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Bouton,  John  Bell,  1 830-1902, 

"*"   Uncle  Sam's  church :  his  creed,  Bible,  and  hymn-book.     By  John 

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Uncle  Sam's  Church: 


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With  the  Compliments  of 


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Cambridge,  Mass. 


vemi-: 


HIS  CREED,  BIBLE,  AND  HYMN-BOOK. 


BY 


JOHN   BELL   BOUTON. 


''STRIKE,  BUT  HEAR:' 


CAMBRIDGE: 

UNIVERSITY    PRESS. 

1895. 


Copyright,  1895, 
By  John  Bell  Bouton. 


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PREFACE. 


T^HIS  Republic  is  on  the  eve  of  stirring  events. 
The  New  Patriotism  that  is  in  the  air  is 
but  a  Divine  instinct  of  preparation  for  them. 

Our  "  White  Navy  "  is  something  more  than  a 
harmless  symbol  of  National  power  and  pride. 
It  is  not  a  flock  of  doves.  It  means  Peace 
only  when  that  is  consistent  with  Justice  and 
Honor. 

It  would  be  ignoble  to  avoid  the  path  of  our 
manifest  destiny  in  the  Western  World.  We 
shall  soon  be  confronted  with  pressing  questions 
of  Annexation  which  cannot  be  shirked  without 
discredit  to  our  Mission. 

Socialists,  with  deceptive  olive  branches,  and 
Anarchists,  with  real  daggers,  torches,  and  bombs, 
are  menacing  the  institutions  that  are  our  heri- 
tage,  bought  by  the  Fathers  with  so  great  a  price 
of  blood  and  treasure. 


lfaJi^42 


IV 


PREFACE. 


To  meet  the  grave  responsibilities  and  dangers 
that  are  ahead,  the  whole  American  people  need 
a  new  baptism  of  Patriotism  —  by  immersion. 
Their  minds  must  be  saturated  with  the  thoughts 
and  deeds  of  the  immortal  Founders  of  the 
Republic.  They  must  learn  by  heart  the  vital 
phrases  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and 
of  the  Federal  Constitution,  which  are  the  sacred 
charters  of  Liberty  and  Union.  They  must  be 
brought  to  realize  fully  that  these  United  States 
are  in  truth  a  Nation,  and  that  the  affection  and 
allegiance  of  all  its  citizens  are  its  first  and  right- 
ful due  and  the  only  sure  pledge  of  their  security 
and  happiness. 

A  National  Patriotic  Cult  must  be  made  to 
supply  the  place  of  an  impossible  State  Religion. 

The  object  of  this  little  book  is  to  show  how 
cheaply,  easily,  quickly,  and  surely  this  can  be 
done    in    channels    and    by    methods    hitherto 

untried. 

J.  B.  B. 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  1895. 


CONTENTS. 

« 

PAGE 

The  New  Patriotism 7 

Signs  of  the  Times n 

Growth  of  Nationalism 13 

National  Righteousness 19 

Uncle  Sam's  Creed 23 

Ark  of  Freedom's  Covenant 25 

The  Sacred  Vouchers 29 

Uncle  Sam's  Bible 30 

A  Washington  Cult 33 

The  Monroe  Doctrine 37 

Maps  of  the  "  Promised  Land  " 42 

Uncle  Sam's  Hymn-Book 44 

Songs  Truly  National 47 

Counting  the  Cost ••51 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


PACE 


Patriotism  will  find  the  Way 55 

Footing  the  Figures 59 

General  Welfare 63 

Religion  and  Patriotism 65 

Education  and  Patriotism 68 

The  Treason  of  Indifferentism 69 

A  Grand  Monopoly 70 

A  New  Rallying  Call .  73 


UNCLE   SAM'S    CHURCH. 


T^O  organize  Patriotism  ;  to  spread  it  over  all 
^  the  United  States;  to  make  it  lasting: 
these  are  duties  resting  on  every  citizen,  and 
the  times  are  ripe  for  their  performance. 

A  revival  of  Patriotism  is  apparent  in  many 
ways  and  in  many  parts  of  the  land.  If  it  were  a 
revival  of  religion,  the  churches  most  concerned 
in  it  would  claim  it  as  from  God.  And  so  it  is. 
For  Patriotism,  like  Religion  and  like  human 
love,  is  an  instinct  divinely  planted  in  the  heart 
of  Man.  As  Religion  and  Love  are  cultivated 
by  expression  and  by  practice,  so  is  Patriotism. 

"Grieving  away  the  Holy  Spirit"  has  been 
declared  by  theologians  to  be  the  one  unpar- 
donable sin.  No  language  could  be  too  lurid  to 
portray  its  terrible  consequences.  On  that  point 
opinions  have  always  honestly  differed.    But  there 


8 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


can  be  no  question  about  the  penalty  that  may 
be   incurred    by    neglecting   the   present   golden 
opportunity   to    make    Patriotism  universal   and 
fervid,  North,  South,  East,  and  West.     Miss  this 
God-given  opening  of  to-day,  and  the  fortunate 
conjunction  may  never  return.     Then  what  may 
happen  ?     At  some  future  time,  not  far  off  it  may 
be,  the  lack  of  a  profound,  glowing  Patriotism, 
coextensive  with  the  entire  Republic,  — a  Patri- 
otism in  which  all  petty  sectional   interests  and 
prejudices  are   fused   and   absorbed,  —  may  per- 
mit the  outbreak  of   serious  local  disaffections, 
revolts,  formal  secession  even,  only  to  be  sup- 
pressed   again   by  war  with    all    its  horrors.     It 
would  be  but  the  proverbial  repetition  of  history. 
God   forbid!     But    God    in   history   is  only  the 
Divine  Will  working  through  Man.     If  we  will 
not  work  with  it,  —  if  we  do  not  now  strive  most 
earnestly  to  disseminate  and  exalt  Patriotism  as 
a  virtue    indispensable    to   national  existence,— 
then   it   may   be   the   melancholy  task  of  some 
future  annalist  again  to  point  the  oft-told  moral 
of  Man's  suicidal  blindness  in  not  seeing  or  not 
following  out  the  plain  signs  of  the  times. 

Strike  while  the  iron  is  hot.     It  glows  on  the 
anvil  and  waits  for  the  hammer  now. 


THE   NEW  PATRIOTISM.  9 

To  "  get  Religion."  To  "  fall  in  Love."  These 
familiar  phrases  imply  the  possibility  of  fixing 
precise  dates  at  which  the  emotions  were  first 
felt.  There  is  a  new-born  Patriotism  in  the  air. 
But  we  cannot  name  its  birthday.  We  only 
know  that  it  is  but  a  few  years  old.  Don't  mis- 
take it  for  a  mere  prolongation  or  echo  of  pre- 
vious patriotic  outbursts.  The  Union  uprising  of 
'61  was  the  most  intense  manifestation  of  Patri- 
otism seen  since  1776.  It  continued  through  the 
war  and  the  Reconstruction  period.  Then  came 
a  reaction  and  a  dreary  void,  when  Patriotism  was 
latent  or  languid.  The  hundredth  anniversary 
of  our  national  Independence  roused  it  up  again, 
and  it  culminated  resplendently  in  the  World's 
Fair  at  Philadelphia  in  1876.  The  immediate 
origins  of  these  two  grand  displays  of  Patriotism 
are  obvious  enough.  But  why,  and  when,  and 
where,  the  lull  that  followed  the  long  round  of 
Centennial  rejoicings  was  first  broken  by  the 
patriotic  heart-throbs  which  we  hear  all  about 
us  to-day,  no  man  knows.  Different  reasons  sug- 
gested by  human  experience,  some  plausible,  some 
nonsensical,  all  insufficient,  may  be  assigned  for 
this  fresh  access  of  a  beautiful,  divine  sentiment. 
No  party  and  no  policy  can  justly  claim  the  ex- 


lO 


UNCLE   SAM'S    CHURCH. 


I 


elusive  o-lory  of  the  renaissance.  However  much 
statesmen  may  have  done  to  satisfy  the  patriotic 
instinct,  the  instinct  was  there  before  them  quick 
to  respond  with  enthusiasm.  We  may  as  well 
fall  back  on  the  good  old  word  "  Providential." 
It  alone  explains  the  inexplicable. 

Consider  the  glorious  results  of  this  new  and 
strange  outwelling  of  Patriotism.  Here  are  some 
of  them,  all  clearly  traceable  to  the  deep-lying 
fundamental  cause. 

SIGNS   OF   THE   TIMES. 

The  creation,  out  of  next  to  nothing,  of  our 
"white  Navy,"  which,  ship  for  ship,  has  no  supe- 
rior, if  an  equal,  on  the  ocean.  Not  long  ago  the 
people  were  indifferent  or  hostile  to  large  naval 
appropriations.  Now  they  want  them  and  woe 
be  to  the   short-sighted  law-makers  who  thwart 

their  will ! 

The  severe  measures,  some  passed  and  others 
in  preparation,  for  thrusting  back  anarchists, 
criminals,  and  dangerous  classes  generally,  from 
our  shores.  Harsh  precautions,  but,  unhappily, 
necessary  for  the  well  being  of  the  Republic  and 
its  law-abiding,  honest,  industrious  citizens. 


SIGNS   OF   THE   TIMES. 


II 


I 


The  prompt  and  relentless  crushing  of  mobs 
instigated  by  so-called  Labor  Unions  and  com- 
posed of  strikers,  ruffians,  and  thieves.  The 
interference  of  Federal  troops  for  this  purpose, 
despite  the  protests  of  treacherous,  impotent,  and 
half-hearted  Governors,  was  applauded  by  a  nation 
of  spectators — minus  the  demagogues  and  row- 
dies. If  Uncle  Sam's  handful  of  boys  had  not 
sufficed  for  the  job,  he  could  have  drawn  at  sight 
on  the  militia  of  all  the  other  better  governed 
communities  to  the  last  man,  and  his  drafts 
would  have  been  as  swiftly  honored  in  Louisiana 
as  in  Massachusetts.  Not  many  years  ago  such 
vigorous,  decisive  action  on  the  part  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government  would  have  been  disapproved 
in  many  localities.  It  would  have  been  fiercely 
condemned  by  political  opponents.  That  it  is 
heartily  and  quite  unanimously  commended  now, 
is  proof  of  the  more  pervasive,  more  ebullient 
patriotism  of  our  day. 

The  emphatic  rebuke  at  the  polls  of  the  timid, 
distrustful,  unprogressive,  and  un-American  policy 
of  the  Administration  in  Samoa  and  the  Hawa- 
iian Islands.  If  dilatory  caution  is  a  virtue  in 
statesmanship,  so  is  Patriotism.  Perhaps  excess 
of  the  one  is  only  a  deficiency  of  the  other.     The 


12 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


>i 


people,  if  we  may  judge  them  by  their  recent  ver- 
dict, would  have  pardoned  the  President  for  a 
little  haste  and  even  precipitancy  —  for  the  good 
of  his  country  and  of  Republican  institutions  — 
out  in  those  isles  of  the  Pacific. 
■  The  solemn,  overwhelming  re-affirmation  of 
Protection  on  the  5th  of  November  last.  Any- 
body can  pick  flaws  in  a  Protective  Tariff.  There 
are  as  many  defensible  notions  about  the  kinds 
and  degrees  of  Protection  among  its  supporters 
as  there  are  sects  of  the  Christian  religion.  But 
any  sort  of  Protection,  whatever  its  faults,  has  the 
nominal  saving  virtue  of  Americanism.  It  is  an 
attempt  to  do  something  that  is  Am.ericaa  for 
Americans,  —  somicthing  ostensibly  patriotic,  ben: 
eficial  to  the  interests  of  the  United  States  rather 
than  those  of  foreign  countries.  It  distinctly 
appeals  to  Patriotism  for  its  support.  And  from 
the  ballot-box  a  reflecting  and  convinced  Patri- 
otism thunders  "  Yes." 

The  breaking  up  of  the  solid  Democratic 
South.  This  is  the  most  important  political 
event  since  the  war.  Tariff  enticements  had 
much  to  do  with  it.  But  these  would  have  been 
powerless,  had  not  thousands  of  Southerners  felt 
patriotically  disposed  to  level  the  old  party  bar- 


GROWTH   OF   NATIONALISM. 


13 


' 


rier  and  enjoy  a  freer  air  and  larger  life.  The 
fiat  has  gone  forth.  The  South  is  no  longer  the 
impregnable  stronghold  of  one  party,  but  a  divided 
camp.  And  divided  camps  are  what  this  country 
wants.  The  genius  of  our  institutions  requires 
the  nearly  even  distribution  of  two  great  parties 
out  of  whose  ceaseless  attrition  good  comes  by 
cautious  experiments  and  slow  degrees  and  occa- 
sional reversals  of  policy.  The  worst  possible 
demarcation  lines  of  such  parties  are  geographi- 
cal. Sectionalism,  with  all  its  frightful  dangers, 
is  the  sure  result.  A  party  monopoly  of  the 
South  caused  the  Civil  War.  The  best  guaranty 
of  a  genuine  and  enduring  Union  is  the  replac- 
ing of  Sectional  by  National  ideas  and  issues  all 
round.  The  nascent  Republican  party  of  the 
South  may  be  trusted  to  do  this.  Then  political 
cyclones  will  no  longer  originate  in  and  about 
the  Gulf  States. 

The  crushing  defeat  of  the  infamous  Tammany 
o-ano-  in  New  York  City.  The  new  Patriotism  — 
and  nothing  else  —  did  it.  It  was  not  a  question 
of  keeping  thieves'  hands  out  of  their  pockets, 
for  New  Yorkers  have  been  so  long  accustomed 
to  feeling  them  there  that  they  did  not  mind 
that     It  was  not  a  question  of  economy,  for  New 


14 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


Yorkers  are  nothing  if  not  extravagant.  It  was 
a  question  of  trying  to  save  the  name  of  their 
city  from  continuing  to  be  the  synonym  of 
all  that  is  dishonest  and  foul  in  Municipalism. 
That  deplorable  lack  of  public  spirit,  for  which 
the  citizens  of  New  York,  despite  their  religion, 
culture,  and  benevolence,  have  long  been  notori- 
ous, has  at  last  given  place  to  civic  pride,  — 
which  is  only  another  name  of  Patriotism.  What 
Patriotism  did  for  good  government  on  the  small 
field  of  New  York  City  it  can  do  everywhere  and 
in  every  election,  from  that  of  the  humblest 
official  to  that  of  the  highest  in  the  Republic. 
It  is  the  panacea  for  the  worst  ills  of  the  body 
politic. 

Even  the  oldest  States,  that  have  never  lacked 
Patriotism,  are  now  feeling  new,  delicious  thrills 
of  it  in  their  unwithered  veins.  Massachusetts 
has  flung  aside  her  meaningless  and  wholesomely 
neglected  Fast  Day.  She  has  substituted  for  its 
pretence  of  half  rations  and  penitential  gloom 
the  joyous  feast  and  laughing  out-door  life  of 
Patriots'  Day.  It  is  Patriotism  alone  that  dic- 
tated for  the  19th  of  April,  in  every  year,  the 
grateful  celebration  of  the  momentous  double 
event   of    Concord   and   Lexington.      The   term 


•') 


"PATRIOTS'   DAY." 


15 


"Patriots'  Day,"  applied  to  this  ever  glorious 
anniversary,  was  the  happy  thought  of  Governor 
Greenhalge.  He  did  wisely  in  rejecting  merely 
local  or  personal  designations  of  the  new  festival. 
For  he  has  hit  upon  a  name.  National  in  its  sio-. 
nificance  and  scope,  well  fitted  for  adoption  by 
every  State  in  the  Union.  Some  time,  let  us 
hope,  the  meagre  list  of  our  National  holidays 
will  be  enlarged  by  a  "  Patriots'  Day,"  which  will 
be  celebrated  with  as  much  unanimity  and  enthu- 
siasm as  the  Fourth  of  July. 

The  recent  formation  of  strong  societies  com- 
posed of  lineal  descendants  of  worthies  of  the 
Colonial  and  Revolutionary  periods.  The  best 
known  among  these  organizations  are  the  "  Colo- 
nial Dames  "  and  the  "  Society  of  Colonial  Wars," 
and  the  "  Sons  "  and  also  the  "  Daughters  "  of  the 
American  Revolution.  The  Colonial  Dames  have 
chapters  in  the  thirteen  original  States  and  the 
District  of  Columbia  only.  The  "  Sons  "  and  the 
*' Daughters"  of  the  American  Revolution  can 
incorporate  themselves  for  the  affiliated  work  in 
whatever  State  or  Territory  they  live.  These  are 
spontaneous  and  sincere  outgrowths  of  the  New 
Patriotism,  and  seem  to  be  deservedly  flourishing. 
Their  declared  objects  and  aims  are  most  excel- 


j5  uncle   SAM'S  CHURCH. 

lent,  and  they  ought  to  have  an  assured  future  of 
great  usefulness  in  feeding  and  trimming  the  lamp 
of  Patriotism  so  that  the  holy  hght  shal  never  go 
out  upon  the  altar.     We  must  not  smile  a   pnde 
of  ancestry  when  the  ancestors  -^^  PJ^^^^^"  J 
,,ere  is  any  "blue  blood"  in  the  United  States, 
it  is  the  kind  that  flowed  at  Bunker  Hilh  Ben- 
ninc^ton,  Saratoga,  Princeton,  Monmouth,  kings 
Mountain,  Camden,  and   Eutaw.     There  should 
be  noted  also  the  increased  interest  and  enthusi- 
asm shown  about  the  camp-fires  of  the  '•  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic  "  from  year  to  year.    And 
the  "Sons  of  the  Veterans"  are  coming  on  the 
stage  with  youthful  vigor  and  martial  tread  to 
take  the  place  of  their  sires,  as  guardians  of  the 
sacred  traditions,  when   they   are   all   dead   and 
the  pension   rolls  shelved   as   precious  relics  of 

the  past.  ,      f    i.1.  • 

other  good  things  have  been  brought  forth  m 
this  new  birth.  They  are  cumulative  evidence  on 
a  point  already  proved,  and  need  only  be  sum- 

The  enormously  increased  demand  for  Histo- 
ries  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  Civ.  War, 
especially  in  a  popular  and  abridged  form  for  the 
young. 


"OLD   GLORY." 


17 


The  multiplication  of  short  biographies  of  the 
statesmen  and  warriors  of  the  troublous  times. 

The  study  of  the  Constitution  and  the  work- 
ings of  Republican  Government  in  the  Public 
Schools. 

The  greater  respect  paid  to  "  Old  Glory  "  as 
the  stainless  emblem  of  National  renown  and  the 
symbol  and  pledge  of  Union,  no  matter  how  many 
new  stars  emblazon  its  celestial  blue.  This  ap- 
pears in  the  increased  frequency  of  its  display  on 
State  Houses,  City  Halls,  Public  Schools,  and 
private  buildings,  Liberty  poles,  and  wherever  else 
the  breezes  of  Heaven  can  caress  it. 

The  World's  Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago. 
Though  this  stupendous  fair  celebrated  no  event 
in  the  history  of  the  Republic,  it  was  none  the 
less  a  brilliant  triumph  of   National  Patriotism. 
Marvellous   as   a   display  of   the   whole    worlds 
treasures  of  Nature,  Science,  and  Art,  its  grand- 
est claim  on  our  admiration  was  its  gathering  of 
representative  citizens   and    tributes  from  every 
part  of  the  Union.     If  any  sectional  jealousy  was 
at  first  excited  by  the  choice  of  the  great  city  of 
the  West  as  the  site  of  the  Exposition,  this  was 
soon  merged  in  the  noble  sentiment  of  a  Unity 
which  takes  the  same  pride  in  Chicago  as  in  New 


i8 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


York.  If  the  centre  of  gravity  has  been  shifted 
by  the  westward  march  of  Empire,  we  yet  remain, 
all  alike,  sharers  in  the  increasing  glory  of  the 
Republic,  one  and  indivisible. 

UNCLE    SAm's    church. 

Here,  then,  is  a  vast  field  already  well  prepared 
for  the  systematic,  searching,  wholly  beneficent 
work  of  what  may  be  called,  without  irreverence, 
"  Uncle  Sam's  Church."     It  is  a  Church  that  has 
its  long  roll  of  saints  and  martyrs,  nobler  than 
many  that  have  been  canonized  and  whose  bones 
are  objects  of  reverence.     Like  other  churches, 
it  has  its  Creed,  its  Bible,  and  its  Hymn-Book,but 
it  has  no  hierarchy  or  priesthood.     Of  course  it 
is  not  a  church  in  any  dictionary  sense   of  the 
word,  as  that  implies  a  religion  to  go  with  the 
Church  ;  and  Uncle  Sam  is  debarred  by  the  Con- 
stitution from  setting  up  "an  Establishment  of 
Religion."     There  are  sects  of  Christianity  that 
would  be  only  too  happy  to  conceal  his  bright 
fantastic  garb  under  a  sombre  and  decorous  re- 
ligious habit  —  always  provided  it  were  cut  from 
their  cloth  and  in  their  fashion.     Our  friends  of 
the  Roman  Catholic,  the  Episcopalian,  the  Meth- 


NATIONAL   RIGHTEOUSNESS. 


19 


Mi 


odist,  the  Presbyterian,  the  Baptist,  and  perhaps 
other  connections,  would  gladly  secure  his  cus- 
tom for  their  exclusive  tailoring.  But,  as  his 
patronage  is  wholly  out  of  the  question,  none  of 
them  are  touting  for  it.  If  any  one  of  them 
lifted  a  voice  or  a  finger  with  that  intent,  the 
ambitious  sect  would  bring  upon  itself  an  over- 
whelming torrent  of  indignant  scorn  and  denun- 
ciation from  all  the  others,  as  a  pistol  shot  starts 
an  avalanche.  The  country  would  be  too  hot  to 
hold  any  sect  or  set  of  men  who  should  plot  for 
the  repeal  of  this  most  just,  equitable,  and  wise 
Constitutional  prohibition.  Unless  the  Ameri- 
cans of  the  future  change  for  the  incredibly  worse, 
and  become  by  a  vast  majority  the  slaves  and  tools 
of  priestcraft,  there  is  no  probability  that  such  a 
thing  will  be  ever  attempted. 

Being  forever  estopped  by  his  experienced  and 
long-headed  sponsors  from  making  hazardous  ven- 
tures under  the  name  of  "  Religion,"  (as  defined 
in  all  the  lexicons  and  universally  understood  of 
men,)  Uncle  Sam  is  perfectly  free  to  put  his  sound 
mind  and  his  good  heart  into  the  culture  and  dif- 
fusion of  Patriotism.  This,  properly  aided  and 
developed  under  his  fostering  care,  may  be  made 
a  practical  National  Righteousness  —  in  the  root 


20 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


n 


HAPPILY   SECULARIZED   SOIL. 


21 


sense  of  ri^k^  and  wise  conduct.     What  greater 
good  than  that  would  any  religious  sect  be  likely 
to  do  for  the  country  if  it  had  full  swing?     It 
might  do  much   less.      It  might  develop  into  a 
spiritual  tyranny,  — the  most  cruel  and  hateful  of 
all.     Once  repeal  the  prohibition  of  a  religious 
establishment  and  install  some  sect  at  Washing- 
ton,  and  the  next  step  would  be  straight  along 
the  line  of  the  amendment  text  (Article   I.)   to 
erase  the  clause  that  now  protects  the  "  free  ex- 
ercise"  of  religion  by   all;     and,   as    inevitable 
corollaries,  would  swiftly  follow  the  abridgment 
of  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press. 

These    priceless    blessings,   among   the    most 
cherished  in   our  national  bill   of   rights,  would 
perish  with  the  blow  that  cut  the  tap-root  of  our 
free  religious  life.     The  "  religious  test  "  now  for- 
bidden   in    Article   VII.  would   be    interpolated 
there  and  imposed,  and   then  we  should    realize 
what  we  now  only  read  of  and  shudder  over  in 
books,  the  ferocious  zeal  of  fanatics  and  bigots 
when  unchecked  by  the  civil  arm.     History  has 
never  failed  to  repeat  itself  whenever  the  Church 
has  mastered  the  State.     And  Churches  seek  no 
alliance   with   States   where  such   supremacy  is 
not   sought    after    with    every   wile,   and    most 


patiently.  Guard  well  the  first  line  of  defences 
in  the  Constitution,  and  that  danger  wdll  not  be 
incurred  on  this  happily  secularized  soil. 

HOW   TO    DO    IT. 

Now,  how  can  Uncle  Sam  best  promote  this 
inspiring  patriotic  cult,  which  must  stand  for  the 
Nation  in  lieu  of  an  impossible  State  religion.? 
The  plan  which  I  have  the  honor  to  propose  to 
the  American  people  is  so  simple,  easy,  and 
cheap,  that  it  may  seem  at  first  absurdly  dis- 
proportionate to  the  great  objects  sought  to  be 
attained.  But  before  enlarging  upon  this  branch 
of  the  subject,  let  us  look  a  little  at  the  immense 
vantage  ground  already  exclusively  occupied  by 
Uncle  Sam,  affording  him  almost  innumerable 
temples  or  radiating  centres  for  immediate  use. 
It  is  all  very  well  to  talk  of  a  "  Church  invisible." 
But  most  people  want  their  churches  very  visible 
indeed,  with  walls,  towers,  spires,  and  all  the  pal- 
pable signs  of  wealth  and  social  influence  for 
which  sects  so  earnestly  contend.  The  first  and 
best  ornament  of  the  infant  village  of  America  is 
the  church  edifice,  in  whose  erection  some  con- 
fraternity of  worshippers  often  goes  far  beyond  its 


22 


UNCLE  SAM'S   CHURCH. 


cash  resources  and  borrows  largely.  Hundreds 
of  millions  of  dollars  are  invested  — and  well  in- 
vested—throughout the  United  States  in  these 
houses  of  God.  The  enormous  cost  of  their  con- 
struction has  always  been  deemed  necessary  by 
rival  denominations  for  the  furtherance,  if  not  the 
very  existence,  of  their  respective  beliefs. 

If  this  is  true  but  in  part,  then  Uncle  Sam  has 
good  reason  to  congratulate  himself  as  the  pos- 
sessor   of    nearly    sixty-nine    thousand     visible 
churches,  all  his  own  and  all  paid  for  except  a 
few  which  he  hires  temporarily  but  equally  under 
his  control,  in  every  city,  town,  and  village  of  the 
United  States.     These  buildings  are  some  large, 
imposing,  and  costly,  others   less    ambitious    in 
design  and  decoration,  but  still  handsome,  and 
others  of  a  humbler  order  and  a  plainer  finish. 
The  towering  marble  or   granite  or  iron   piles, 
sometimes  filling  entire  squares,  are  for  the  great 
cities    of   the   land.      They   may   be   called   the 
Cathedrals.     The  second-rate  cities  and  consider- 
able towns   are   provided  with  structures  larger 
perhaps  than  their  immediate  requirements,  but 
generously  planned  with  a  view  to  future  needs. 
The  lesser,  down  to  the  least,  nuclei  of   popula- 
tion   are    never   neglected    in    this    distribution. 


THE   PATRIOTIC   CULT. 


23 


They  all  have  a  building,  large  or  small,  which 
they  owe  to  Uncle  Sam.  I  am  alluding  to  the 
Post  Offices  of  the  United  States,  and  I 
propose  that  every  one  of  them  be  used,  with  the 
least  delay  practicable,  as  an  active  centre  for  the 
exposition  and  propagation  of  the  Patriotic  Cult, 


UNCLE   SAM  S   CREED. 

How  can  this  best  be  done?  Answer:  By 
the  free,  but  judicious,  use  of  Uncle  Sams  print- 
ing press.  It  could  be  run,  at  odd  hours,  on  such 
plain  work  as  placards  and  tracts  or  pamphlets, 
which  should  consist  of  Patriotism  boiled  down 
to  its  quintessence.  Take  the  placards,  first  in 
order  if  not  first  in  importance.  Two  of  them 
w^ould  be  required  to  be  hung  on  the  walls  of 
each  of  the  69,000  post  offices.  One  should  be 
the  "  Declaration  of  Independence,"  the  other 
the  "  Constitution  of  the  United  States,"  each 
entire  and  without  note  or  comment.  The  pla- 
cards should  be  printed  in  bold,  easily  legible 
type,  on  strong  cloth-backed  paper  for  perma- 
nence, and  of  a  size  and  style  to  challenge  the 
attention  of  the  least  observant  man.  These 
two  documents  contain  Uncle  Sam's  Articles  of 


24 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


Faith.     Read    them  together,  and  you  have  his 
Creed.     Creeds  have  always  been  expensive,  cost- 
ing, before   they  have  earned  the  right   to   live, 
immense  sacrifices  of  blood  and  treasure.     Those 
splendid  gems  of  truth,  which  the  immortal  sign- 
ers of   the    Declaration  called   self-evident,  (but 
none  the  less  denied  by  tyrants,  the  world  over,) 
cost  the  infant  Colonies  the  Revolutionary  war. 
It  was  a  great  price,  but  the  peerless  jewels  were 
worth  it.     A  single  Article  of  Faith  —  No.  XIII. 
of   the    Constitutional    Amendments  —  came    as 
high  as  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives  and  thou- 
sands of  millions  of  dollars.     It  was  the  abolition 
of  slavery.     Every  word  of  the  Declaration,  from 
the    stately    "  When    in  the  course    of    human 
events  "  down  to  the  sublime  pathetic  close,  "  we 
mutually   pledge   to   each    other   our    lives,    our 
fortunes,  and  our  sacred   honor,"  is  fraught  with 
the   weightiest   meaning   to    Americans    for    all 
time.     The   awful    indictment  against  poor   old 
Georee    III.  is   not   merely  a  curious   piece   of 
ancient  history.     It  particularizes  the  exact  kind 
of  oppressions  which   tyrants  alwa3^s  practise  in 
their   refusal    of  man's   ''unalienable    rights"   to 
"life,    liberty,  and    the    pursuit    of     happiness." 
"  Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  Liberty,"  with- 


ARK  OF  FREEDOM^S  COVENANT. 


25 


out   which    its  immense  cost   is  but  an  aimless 
waste.     Therefore,  it  behooves  all  Americans  to 
keep  ever  before  their  eyes  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  as  a  powerful  incentive  to  watch- 
fulness  against   foes    within    and    foes    without. 
The  Constitution  is  to  the  Declaration  what  res- 
olutions should  be  to  a  preamble,  —  the  logical 
sequel.     The  one  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  other's 
pledges.     Together,  they  are  the   ark   of    Free- 
dom's covenant,  — enshrining  all  that  is  best  of 
human  experience  in  the  science  and  art  of  self- 
government  in  all  the   Ages.     As  the  creed  of 
Uncle  Sam's  Church,  they  have  the  unique  advan- 
tage among  creeds  of  extreme  simplicity,  so  that 
everybody   can   understand  it,  and  also  of  com- 
manding full  belief  without  any  mental  reserva- 
tion whatever. 

In  this  country  everybody  goes  to  the  Post 
Office.  Houses  of  worship  are  open  only  on 
Sundays,  but  the  Post  Office  is  open  every  day. 
It  is  the  most  public  of  all  public  places.  It  is 
to  Americans  what  the  Forum  was  to  the  Romans, 
and  what  the  market-place  still  is  to  many  towns 
in  the  Old  World.  Hang  these  placards  on  the 
walls  of  Post  Office  lobbies  all  over  the  country, 
with   or   without   the  richly  gilded  frames   they 


iSflWiJa^ 


26 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


deserve,  and  they  would  be  read  —  and  read 
often,  I  believe  —  by  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  who  could  read  English.  Curiosity  is 
catching  and  the  illiterate  may  be  trusted  to 
find  somebody  to  interpret  to  them  the  mystic 
signs    on    the    walls    which    everybody    else   is 

scanning. 

For  the  placard,  be  it  understood,  is  the  best 
thing  yet  devised  —  always  excepting  the  news- 
paper —  to  plant  the  blow  of  an  idea  between  the 
eyes  of  mankind.    The  town-crier  —  save  in  a  few 
backwood   retreats  — is    obsolete,  and   when   he 
went  his  rounds  his  voice  was  apt  to  be  thick 
with    fog   or   something,  or   hoarse   from   much 
shouting,  and  his  mumbled  and  broken  sentences 
were  not  easily  caught  except  by  the  small  circle 
within  swing  of   his  bell.     The  placard   is   uni- 
versally read  because  it  is  a  placard.     No  matter 
whether  it  announces  a  coming  circus,  an  auc- 
tion sale,  an  article  lost,  a  list  of  citizens  registered 
and  entitled  to  vote,  a  patent  medicine,  or  what 
not,  it  is   equally   a  centre   of  staring   interest. 
The  artful  advertisements  that  confront  the  uni- 
versal  eye  in    railway  stations,  and   in   electric, 
cable,  and  horse  cars,   on  the    roofs   of   houses, 
board  fences,  dead  walls,  and  elsewhere,  are  po- 


THE   POWERFUL   PLACARD. 


27 


tent  charmers  of  money  out  of  closely  buttoned 
pouches.  If  venders  of  nostrums  can  get  rich  by 
playing  upon  this  inveterate  human  weakness. 
Uncle  Sam  may  surely  depend  on  the  same 
means  of  advertising  Patriotism. 

Placards  have  always  been  powerful  allies  of 
Revolution.  Empires  and  kingdoms  have  been 
overturned  by  them.  Our  Patriot  fathers  used 
them  adroitly  in  the  darkest  hours  of  the  sacred 
cause,  and  they  never  failed  to  irradiate  the  gloom. 
They  cheered  the  discouraged  and  spurred  the 
sluggish  as  nothing  else  could.  The  apparition 
of  placards  on  the  curbstones  has  struck  terror 
to  the  hearts  of  emperors  and  kings.  No  mon- 
arch is  so  firmly  seated  on  his  throne  that  he  does 
not  quake  a  little  before  the  mysterious  threat 
that  comes  out  of  the  darkness.  If  the  placard 
is  one  of  the  most  effective  means  of  inciting 
men  to  rise  against  bad  forms  of  government, 
why  may  it  not  be  utilized  to  brace  up  the  best 
government  on  the  face  of  the  earth.?  Space 
then  for  the  placards,  in  dimensions  ample,  in 
type  big  enough  to  be  read  five  or  ten  feet  away, 
hung  (but  not  too  high)  on  the  inside  walls  of 
every  one  of  Uncle  Sam's  churches,  whether  it 
be  a  "  Cathedral  "  in  New  York,  Chicago,  or  Bos- 


28 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


ton,  or  the  hired  half  of  a  log  shanty  in  the  wilds 

of  Oregon ! 

At  this  juncture  the  Critic,  bursting  with  im- 
patience and  imagined  wisdom,  interposes:  — 
"  My  dear  sir,  this  is  all  rubbish.  You  are  be- 
hind the  age.  Every  schoolboy  knows  the  Con- 
stitution by  heart.  It  is  now  taught  in  the  com- 
mon schools.  As  for  the  Declaration,  it  is  read 
every  Fourth  of  July  at  public  meetings;  and 
citizens  who  want  to  hear  it  can  do  so  simply  by 
attending.  Those  who  don't  want  to  hear  it  stay 
away,  —  and  they  are  in  the  large  majority.  No 
wonder,  for  the  reading  of  it  entire  by  the  village 
elocutionist  is  generally  considered  a  bore." 

Reply :  It  is  true  that  some  of  the  schoolboys 
of  our  day,  in  Massachusetts  and  a  few  other 
States,  are  privileged  to  read  the  Constitution  in 
admirable  text-books  descriptive  of  the  upbuild- 
ino-  of  American  institutions.  It  is  also  com- 
prised  in  the  courses,  obligatory  or  optional,  of 
many  colleges  and  universities.  The  Constitu- 
tion (and  perhaps  the  Declaration)  has  recently 
been  published  in  a  cheap  pamphlet  form  under 
the  auspices  of  certain  patriotic  societies.  But 
it  does  not  seem  to  have  attained  very  general 
circulation  among  the  people.     At  the  two  largest 


THE   SACRED  VOUCHERS. 


29 


bookstores  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  I  was  told  that 
*' there  was   nothing   of   the   kind  in  stock."     I 
found  my  copy  of  the  Constitution,  brought  down 
to  date  for  reference,  only  in  an  Englishman's 
book  —  strangely  enough  !  —  in  the  Appendix  of 
Volume  I.  of  Bryce's  "  American  Commonwealth." 
For    the    Declaration    of    Independence    I    was 
driven  to  Volume  V.  of  Bancroft's  History  of  the 
United  States.     These  charters  of  our  liberties 
may  be  hidden  away  in  still  other  books  "  which 
no  gentleman's  library  should  be  without."     But 
that  does  not  affect  my  contention  in  the  least. 
There  are  doubtless  a  great  many  Americans  of 
the  educated  class  who  know  something  (call  it 
a  good  deal,  if  you  please)  of  the  text  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  initial  Declaration.     The  rising 
o-eneration  in   a  few  of  the   States  may  be  im- 
pelled  to  make  some  acquaintance  with  them, — 
too  often    perhaps  as  a  task.     But   I   maintain 
that,  to  a  vast  majority  of  Americans,  old,  middle- 
aged,  and  young,  these  sacred  vouchers  of   Lib- 
erty and  Union  are  unknown  save  by  casual  and 
infrequent  citation  and  reference,  too  often  even 
then  with  the  gloss  and  twist  put  upon  them  by 
demagogues  or  fine-spun  theorists.    We  want  them 
without  note  or  comment,  as  we  want  the  Holy 


20 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


UNCLE   SAM'S   BIBLE. 


31 


Bible.  We  want  them  supplied  by  Uncle  Sam 
to  all  the  people  without  money  and  without 
price.  We  want  them  as  free  as  the  air,  and  as 
universal.  We  want  them  not  merely  tendered 
to  all  ignorant  or  partially  informed  persons,  but 
obtruded  upon  them  and  hammered  into  them, 
day  after  day,  by  the  everlasting  placards.  Up 
then  with  Uncle  Sam's  Creed  in  Uncle  Sam's 
Church!  And  be  quick  about  it!  Delays  are 
dangerous,  and  wide-spread  ignorance  of  the  ori- 
gin,  foundation,  and  nature  of  our  government  is 
a  standing  menace  to  its  stability/ 

UNCLE    SAm's    bible. 

Now  for  the  tracts,  or  pamphlets,  or  booklets, 
or  leaflets.  No  matter  about  the  name  so  long 
as  the  thing  itself  is  not  bulky  or  tedious.  This 
mode  of  inculcating  Patriotism  has  its  peculiar, 
inestimable  advantages.  The  tract  is  to  the  big 
book  what  the  Maxim  gun  is  to  the  heavy 
artillery.  It  makes  vastly  less  noise  in  the  firing, 
and  does  a  hundred  times  the  execution.  The 
small  arms  may  win  victories  while  the  big  guns 
are  unlimbering.  Tracts  have  made  crises  and 
have   always    accompanied   them   since   printing 

1  The  Declaration  and  Constitution  could  also  be  published  in  tract 
form  for  general  distribution. 


was  invented.     Like  the  placard,  they  are  fore- 
runners   of    revolution,  and   do    not    stay  their 
course  till  the  goal  is  reached.     "  These  are  the 
times  that   try  men's  souls,"  were   the  opening 
words  of  Paine's  stirring  tract,  *'  Common  Sense," 
which  blew  the  smouldering  fire  of  patriotic  dis- 
content into  a  blaze  in  1776.     The  most  tremen- 
dous religious    upheaval    in    England    since  the 
Reformation  —  itself  greatly   furthered  by  pam- 
phleteering —  resulted    from     the     "  Tractarian 
movement."     The  Oxford  tracts  made  a  rent  as 
of  a  spiritual  earthquake  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, the  effect  of  which  is  visible  to  this  day. 
Religious  Tract  Societies  have  flourished  in  the 
United  States  for  nearly  a  century.     There  is  the 
famous  American   Tract  Society,  and  there  are 
separate  Tract  Societies  for  every  denomination, 
and  they  all  testify  to  the  incalculable  good  that 
tracts  can  do  in  reaching  the  homes  and  hearts 
of  the  people.     From  this   universal  experience 
Uncle    Sam    may   safely   draw    the    conclusion : 
If  tracts  are  one  of  the  main  stays  of  churches  in 
general,  they  are  just  the  thing  for  his  Church. 
If   tracts   awakened    Patriotism    in    1776,   tracts 
can    keep    Patriotism    from    going   to   sleep   in 
1895. 


32 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


The  material  available  in  Uncle  Sam's  archives 
for  the  preparation  of  these  tracts  is  inexhaustible. 
It  all  turns  on   judicious  selection  and  editing. 
The  sole  object  should  be  to  increase  everywhere 
a   love   of    Republican   institutions   and   of    the 
Union.     The  line  to  be  pursued    is  the  line  of 
least  resistance.      Uncle    Sam's    Church   is  ^  not 
sectional  or  partisan,  but   national  and  patriotic, 
not  confined  to  Massachusetts,  New  York,  Penn- 
sylvania, and   Ohio,  but   casting    its    protecting 
shade  over  the  entire  United  States.     The  tracts 
would  not  only  fail  in  their  mission,  but  would  do 
a  real  mischief,  if  they  were  given  over  to  the  glo- 
rification  of  one  State  or  one  section  above  an- 
other State  or  another  section,  or  to  the  teasing 
and  taunting  revival  of  the  memories  of  extinct 
issues.    The  tracts  should  emphasize,  not  the  past 
or  present  differences  between    States  and  sec- 
tions, but  their  agreements.     They  should  always 
be  designed  to  promote  harmony  by  ignoring  dis- 
cords.    Every  good  American  has  the  same  her- 
itage in  the  great  thoughts  and  great  acts  of  his 
gre'It  forefathers.     There  and  there  only  in  the 
past  is  the  ground  common  to  all. 


A   WASHINGTON    CULT. 


33 


With  these  rules  as  a  guide  there  should 
be  little  difficulty  in  determining  what  tracts  to 
issue,  and  even  to  fix  proximately  their  order  of 
appearance.  The  list  subjoined  is  respectfully 
suggested  as  a  partial  one,  in  the  nature  of  samples 
only.  Short  as  it  is,  years  would  be  required  to 
distribute  its  components  effectively  (with  other 
tracts  of  a  different  character,  of  hardly  less 
moment,  to  be  hereinafter  mentioned)  among 
sixty-five  million  people.  It  will  be  observed  that 
the  subjects  are,  in  every  case,  persons  or  events 
of  a  remote  and  universally  honored  past,  upon 
which,  so  far  as  we  now  know,  the  final  verdict  of 
history  has  been  rendered,  and  recalling  only 
memories  in  which  every  American  may  now  feel 
the  same  interest  and  take  the  same  pride. 

I.  A  Sketch  Life  of  George  Washington,  — 
Biographies  of  Washington,  like  the  Declaration 
and  the  Constitution,  are  now  sealed  books  to 
millions  of  Americans.  Those  that  are  sold  over 
counters  or  used  in  public  schools  reach  only  the 
small  minority.  The  whole  country  needs  to  be 
taught  the  great  lesson  of  Washington's  life. 
Those  who  have  learned  it  once  will  profit  by 
studying  it  again.  We  want  a  Washington  cult 
that  will  throw  about  a  Republic  the  same  kind 

3 


34 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


of  charm  with  which  the  Napoleonic  cult  has  al- 
ways invested  Imperialism.  Thousands  of  Amer- 
icans are  now  harking  back  to  the  Napoleonic 
era  to  slake  their  thirst  for  exciting  biography. 
Washington's  career,  though  less  romantic  and 
picturesque  than  the  great  Corsican's,  is  still  very 
impressive,  apart  from  the  noble  moral  it  conveys. 
If  Napoleon  is  now  kindling  anew  the  admiration 
and  sympathy  of  large  numbers  of  our  country- 
men in  the  revamped  versions  of  the  oft-told 
tale,  it  is  time  to  repeat  the  less  thrilling  but 
highly  interesting  story  of  the  august  Father  of 
his  Country.  If  the  serial  issue  of  the  books  of 
Uncle  Sam's  Bible  stopped  with  the  first  number, 
the  good  done  would  still  pay  well  for  the  experi- 
ment. It  is  in  Washington's  matchless  character 
that  American  patriotism  will  always  find  its 
brightest  example.  Twelve  pages  would  suffice 
to  impart  a  good  general  idea  of  Washington's 
life  and  work.  While  it  would  probably  fur- 
nish to  the  immense  majority  of  Americans  the 
amplest  memoir  of  the  man  they  will  ever  have, 
it  would  serve  only  as  a  keen  appetizer  for  multi- 
tudes, and  set  them  to  buying  and  reading  com- 
pleter books  on  the  same  subject.  In  truth,  this 
will  be  the  certain  effect  of  all  the  tracts  that  may 


WASHINGTON'S   FAREWELL   ADDRESS.         35 

follow,  and  thus  private  enterprise  will  become  an 
assistant  in  Uncle  Sam's  work. 

2.  Washincrto7is  Farewell  Address,  —  This  is 
the  political  last  will  and  testament  of  the  greatest 
and  best  American.  It  is  laden  with  the  rich 
fruitage  of  his  long  observation  and  experience 
of  men  and  of  institutions.  In  its  knowledge  of 
human  nature  it  is  profound,  and  eternally  true. 
In  its  prescience  and  its  solemn  monitions  it  has 
the  inspiration  of  prophecy.  Its  grand  thoughts 
are  marshalled  with  soldierly  exactness,  and  march 
straight  to  just  conclusions.  Its  sonorous  Latin- 
English,  in  the  use  of  which  Washington  ex- 
celled, provides  a  kind  of  music  for  the  stately 
tread  of  the  argument.  It  concerns  "the  People 
of  the  United  States"  to-day,  and  will  do  so  for 
unborn  generations,  as  much  as  it  did  when  its 
author  sent  it  forth.  It  is  to  the  Republic  what 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  to  Christendom. 
The  Republic  will  be  safe  and  the  Union  indis- 
soluble as  long  as  Washington's  Farewell  Address 
is  universally  read  and  heeded.  It  must  be  taken 
out  of  the  seclusion  of  such  books  as  Sparks's 
"  Life  and  Writings  of  Washington,"  in  the 
twelfth  volume  of  which  I  found  it,  and  bestowed 
upon  the  public  in  an  eight-page  form. 


'^i^^gasmmMt^imMibt^^ism^S^miM^^^SiiSiMiiSM 


36 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


3.  A  Sketch  Life  of  John  Adams,  —  A  typi- 
cal American  in  the  qualities  which  have  most 
powerfully  contributed  to  the  welfare  and  glory 
of  the  Republic.  A  worthy  successor  of  Wash- 
ington as  President,  than  which  no  higher  tribute 
of  praise  could  be  paid. 

4.  A  Sketch  Life  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  —  How 
fortunate  for  the  young  nation  that  it  had  such  a 
sage  and  patriot  as  Jefferson  in  reserve  to  follow 
Washington  and  Adams !  The  author  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  can  never  be  too 
highly  honored,  nor  his  example  too  closely 
copied,  by  those  who  are  privileged  to  enjoy  the 
blessings  conferred  upon  his  fellow  countrymen 
and  their  successors,  and  upon  all  mankind,  by 
his  clear  head  and  his  great  heart. 

5.  A  Sketch  Life  of  James  Madison,  —  The 
special  title  of  the  fourth  President  of  the  United 
States  to  the  grateful  esteem  of  all  Americans 
is  his  patriotic  attitude  in  sternly  resisting  the 
audacious  British  claim  of  the  right  to  seize  and 
impress  sailors  on  board  American  ships.  Nomi- 
nally limited  to  British  subjects  only,  the  outrage 
was  often  committed  on  American-born  citizens 
also.  The  only  excuse  was  England's  desperate 
anxiety  to  recruit  her  navy  during  her  exhaust- 


THE   MONROE   DOCTRINE. 


37 


ing  war  with  France.  Madison's  firmness  cost 
the  country  the  war  of  18 12.  But  the  price  was 
cheap  for  the  ends  secured. 

6.  A  Sketch  Life  of  James  Monroe,  —  Eternal 
honor  and  gratitude  are  due  to  the  promulgator 
of  the  "  Monroe  doctrine."  From  the  Presiden- 
tial chair,  in  1823,  Monroe  uttered  the  emphatic 
warning  to  all  European  powers  to  meddle  no 
more  with  political  affairs  on  this  continent. 
The  third  Napoleon's  disregard  of  this  traditional 
doctrine,  at  a  time  when  he  fondly  thought  the 
Union  was  in  the  throes  of  dissolution,  led  to  his 
infamous  attempt  to  found  a  branch  empire  in 
Mexico,  followed  by  the  recall  of  his  troops  after 
the  downfall  of  the  Rebellion  and  the  recoil 
upon  himself  of  his  miserable  failure,  soon  to  be 
succeeded  by  the  deserved  collapse  of  his  hollow 
sham  of  Imperialism  in  France.  Monroe's  life 
should  give  the  inspiring  causes  of  the  great 
doctrine  that  bears  his  name,  with  extracts  from 
one  of  Henry  Clay's  magnificent  speeches  in  its 
support.  It  may  come  up  again  some  day  for  re- 
application.  It  is  a  meat  upon  which  Patriotism 
may  feed  endlessly. 


^■atl■rf^Jl.  >-^j--^<*'- 


38 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


Enough  of   these   specimens  of   biography  in 
little.     Turn  now  to  the  historiettes  of  the  great 
epochs    of    our    common    past,  —  remembering 
again  that  the  object  is  to  promote  Patriotism  by 
avoiding  differences  and  painful  recollections,  sec- 
tional and  political,  and  emphasizing  agreements 
as   far  as    possible.      What   are  the   periods  of 
bygone  times  best  calculated,  in  these  condensed 
recitals,  to  stimulate  the    pride    and  enthusiasm 
of    Americans    irrespective    of    locality   and   of 
party?      Among   them  certainly  are  the    Revo- 
lutionary War,  the  War  of  1812,  and  the  War 
with  Mexico.     It  is  only  in  the  foreign  wars  of 
the  Republic  that  we  should  seek  for  the  strong 
tonic  of  Nationality.     The  Colonial  times  prior 
to  the  Revolution  also  afford  excellent  material 
of  this  kind.     When  Patrick  Henry  in  1774  pas- 
sionately  declared,  "  I  am  not  a  Virginian,  /  am 
an  American''  he  voiced  an  idea  which,  if  uni- 
versally  believed  in  and  acted  upon  now,  would 
realize  our  highest  aspirations  of  National  Unity. 
Pausing  here,  in  the  attempt  to  specify  a  few 
examples  out  of  the  rich  mass  of  historical  mate- 
rials at  hand,  let  us  pass  to  another  fountain  head 
of  enlightenment  for  the  whole  American  people. 
It  is  the  Eleventh  Census. 


THE   CENSUS   LESSONS. 


39 


The  Census  is  the  most  thorough  and  in  all 
respects  the  fairest  survey  obtainable  of  the  Union 
in  all  its  parts,  and  of  all  its  multiform  products, 
and  industries,  and  opportunities.  The  integrity 
of  its  intention  and  the  comparative  accuracy  of 
its  figures  none  can  dispute.  Every  American 
ought  to  know  what  the  ponderous  tomes  of  the 
Census  Report  have  to  say,  not  merely  about  his 
own  State  and  section,  but  about  every  nook  and 
corner  of  the  country.  It  is  such  knowledge  that 
breaks  down  petty  local  barriers,  and  makes 
every  reflecting  citizen  who  possesses  it  *'  an 
American."  He  is  thus  brought  to  look  upon 
the  United  States  in  the  true  light,  as  a  Nation. 
Toward  this  Nation  of  his  he  should  come  to 
feel  the  same  pride  and  attachment  that  English- 
men feel  for  England,  Germans  for  Germany, 
Frenchmen  for  France,  Russians  for  Russia,  Ital- 
ians for  Italy,  and  Japanese  for  Japan,  regardless 
of  interior  territorial  bounds.  Our  census  returns 
widen  the  horizon  and  enlarge  the  outlook  for 
every  man  who  reads  them  aright.  .  But  no  one 
ever  sees  them  now  save  on  the  shelves  of  public 
libraries,  and  not  always  there.  The  vital  lessons 
of  these  inaccessible  volumes  should  be  com- 
pressed into  handy  pamphlets  and  put  into  every 


mAv^rUii-ivaiuw^gs'A^  "-. 


40 


UNCLE   SAM'S    CHURCH. 


American  home.  Contrast  the  latest  statistics 
with  those  of  the  Census  of  1800,  for  example, 
and  they  will  show  at  a  single  glance  what  Lib- 
erty and  Union  have  done  and  can  do ! 

If  a  series  of  tracts  of  the  varieties  I  have 
described,  carefully  and  wisely  prepared,  were  ulti- 
mately bound  up  in  book  form,  they  would  be  sur- 
passed in  their  wealth  of  instructiveness  for  the 
good  of  mankind  by  only  one  volume  in  the  world, 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  They  would  contain  the 
ripe  and  perfect  flowering  of  political  truth,  which 
has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  America  as  heir  of  all  the 
ages.  They  would  afford  the  surest  and  best 
guidance  to  the  Art  of  Government  by  the  Peo- 
ple, for  the  People,  upon  the  theory  and  practice 
of  which  depend  the  freedom,  the  progress,  and 
the  happiness  of  the  human  race.  In  the  pages 
of  such  a  book  would  be  found  maxims  of  con- 
summate wisdom  and  goodness  which  are  not  less 
divine  because  they  do  not  claim  direct  revela- 
tion. There  w^ould  be  prophecy  and  fulfilment. 
There  would  be  appeals  of  incomparable  power 
and  beauty  in  behalf  of  justice,  right,  the  liberty 
of  the  individual,  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  duty  of  self-sacrifice  for  the  good 
of   all.      There    would    be   history    teaching   the 


UNCLE   SAM'S   BIBLE. 


41 


soundest  lessons  by  example.  There  would  be 
biography  holding  up  the  loftiest  standards  of 
patriotism  and  courage  and  rectitude  for  univer- 
sal imitation.  There  would  be  unimpeachable 
facts  and  figures  in  abundance  to  prove  what  the 
Republican  system  of  government  has  done  for 
the  advancement,  the  security,  and  the  felicity  of 
man  in  the  Western  World.  Surely  it  is  not  too 
much  to  call  such  a  book  Uncle  Sam's  Bible. 

The  word  '*  Bible  "  is,  of  course,  here  employed 
in  its  original  and  exact  sense  of  "  Book."  Thus, 
tlie  "  Holy  Bible  "  is  often  termed  the  "  Good 
Book,"  or  the  "  Book  of  Books." 

Though  Uncle  Sam  is  shut  out  from  any  reli- 
gious propaganda,  the  circulation  of  these  docu- 
ments must,  nevertheless,  serve  to  widen  and 
deepen,  among  all  thoughtful  readers,  a  convic- 
tion of  the  immanence  of  God  in  History.  In  no 
country  and  in  no  age  is  His  guidance  more 
clearly  shown  than  in  this  Republic,  from  its  be- 
ginning dow^n  to  the  present  day.  Uncle  Sam's 
Bible  will,  therefore,  tend  to  increase  a  belief  in 
and  a  reverence  for  the  Supreme  Ruler,  form- 
ing a  basis  upon  which  Religion  may  build 
securely. 


42 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


MAPS  OF  THE   "  PROMISED  LAND. 


» 


Uncle  Sam's  Bible  should  be  illustrated.     Por- 
traits and   other   pictures,   if   well   done,   would 
greatly   illuminate   its   pages.     The    nature   and 
extent  of  these  illustrations  need  not  be  indicated 
here.     If  the  importance  of  such  pictorial  aids  is 
challenged  by  anybody,  the  value  of  a  good  Map 
of  the  United  States  will  pass  unquestioned.     If 
children  in  any  of  the  public  schools  get  their 
map   of    the    United    States    by   heart,   as    they 
rarely  do,  they  are   apt  to  forget   it  when  they 
grow  up.     Probably  not  one  adult  American  out 
of  every   one    thousand    could    to-day   pass    an 
examination  on  the  boundaries  of  all  the  States 
of  the    Union,  their  capitals   and  largest  towns, 
the  trend  of  the  chief  mountain  ranges,  the  posi- 
tion of  the  great  lakes,  and  the  course  of  the 
principal  rivers.     Good  maps  of  this  country  are 
not  cheap.     Their  price  puts  them   beyond  the 
reach   of  millions  of  people.     Most  of  the  best 
maps  offered  for  sale,  or  shown  in  public  places, 
are    mere    railway    advertisements.      They    are 
streaked  with  broad  black  or  red  or  blue  lines, 
to  mark  particular  railway  systems.     Rival  routes 
are  wholly  omitted,  or  are  faintly  outlined.    Cities, 


MAPS    OF   THE   "PROMISED   LAND." 


43 


towns,  mountains,  rivers,  and  all  else  that  goes 
to  the  making  of  a  faithful  map,  are  slighted  or 
ruthlessly  left  out,  unless  they  have  some  rela- 
tion to  the  "system."     The  shape  of   the  con- 
tinent  and  the  contour  of  States  are  too  often 
grotesquely  distorted  by  foreshortening  and  other 
tricks   in  order  to  make  lines  seem  shorter  and 
straighter  than  they  really  are.     There  is  a  press- 
ing need   for   a   new,   trustworthy   official   map, 
drawn  to  scale  from  the  latest  government  sur- 
veys,  in  which  all  the  great  railways  shall  be  im- 
partially  treated,  and  equal  and  due  prominence 
be  given  to  the  natural  topographical  features  and 
to  the  chief  towns  in  every  part  of  the   Union. 
It  should  be  large  enough  to  afford  a  fair  show 
even  to  tiny  Rhode  Island,  which  is  huddled  out 
of  sio-ht  in  the  contracted  maps  most  in  vogue. 
It  should  be  printed  on  strong  paper,  in  legible 
lines  and  letters,  and  should  be  given  away  to 
every  adult   applicant  from  every  post  office  in 
the    country.     Not   till    Uncle   Sam    undertakes 
this  great  and  good  work  will   the  vast  majority 
of    American    citizens    ever    know    what    these 
United  States  really  are.     When  they  have  mas- 
tered this  sadly  neglected  knowledge  by  the  aid 
of  proper  maps,   they  will   realize  for   the    first 


44 


UNCLE   SAM'S    CHURCH. 


time  what  enormous  extents  of  territory,  and 
what  diversities  of  latitude,  of  cHmate,  and  of 
interests,  from  Arctic  Alaska  to  Tropical  Florida, 
are  bound  up  together  in  the  Union. 

To  study  the  interests  of  other  people  is  the 
surest  way  to  take  a  man  out  of  himself,  that  is, 
to  make  him  less  selfish.  To  study  the  interests 
of  other  sections  of  country  is  the  surest  way 
to  take  a  man  out  of  his  own  section,  in  other 
words,  to  make  him  less  sectional.  Upon  the 
mutual  knowledge  between  the  States  of  one 
another's  interests  and  wants,  and  the  large  and 
warm  sympathies  resulting  therefrom,  depend 
the  existence  of  the  Union  and  the  good  of  all. 
This  is  Patriotism  as  Uncle  Sam's  Map  of  the 
New  Canaan,  or  Promised  Land,  would  teach  it. 


UNCLE  SAM  S    HYMN-BOOK. 

Uncle  Sam  has  some  hymns  all  ready  to  go 
along  with  his  Bible  and  his  Creed.  There  is  no 
embarrassment  of  choice  here.  The  National 
Songs  that  can  be  relied  on  to  stir  an  American's 
blood  to  the  point  of  fighting  and  dying  for  his 
country  if  need  be — and  that  is  the  best  test  of 
their  value  —  maybe  counted  on  less  than  ten 


UNCLE   SAM'S   HYMN-BOOK. 


45 


fingers.     Songs   that  are  spontaneously  adopted 
by  the  People,  and  sung  with  equal  fervor  in  the 
richest  mansions  and  the  poorest  hovels,  in  the 
camp,  in  the  trenches,  and  on  the  eve  of  battle, 
are  the   rarest  of  products.     They  are  the  one 
man's  lyrical  expression  of  the  inarticulate  cries 
of  a   million    men.     The   poet   is    the   ordained 
voice  of  all  that  dumbness.     When  he  is  in  love, 
he  writes  love  songs  for  the  world  of  lovers  to 
sing.    When  he  is  in  a  religious  ecstasy,  he  writes 
the  hymns  that  are  sung  with  passionate  vehe- 
mence   in     all    the    churches    of    Christendom. 
When  patriotic  frenzy  seizes  him,  he  writes  the 
sono-   of   a    Nation.     There  must   be    the   great 
occasion,  the  true  poet,  and   the  melting   heat, 
before  the   National   Hymn  can  be.     One  such 
hymn  may  be  made  equal  to  a  hundred  crises, 
and    may   outlast   the   life    of   a   Nation.      The 
People   cling   to   a   few   such    songs  when  tried 
and  proved,  and  do  not  crave  new  ones.     The 
old  ones,  like  all  the  songs  the  common  people 
have  ever  loved,  have  the  gift  of  immortal  youth. 

If  a  jury  of  twelve  well  informed  patriotic 
Americans  should  try  the  claims  of  all  competing 
sono-s  for  the  cfreat  honor  of  inclusion  among 
the  first  seven  in  Uncle  Sam's  Hymn-Book,  they 


46 


UNCLE   SAM'S    CHURCH. 


would  probably  render  their  verdict  without 
leaving  the  box.  They  would  find  for  Smith's 
"  America,"  Key's  "  Star  Spangled  Banner,"  Hop- 
kinson's  "  Hail  Columbia,"  Shaw's  "Columbia,  the 
Gem  of  the  Ocean,"  Morris's  "  Flag  of  the  Union," 
and  Dwight's  "  Our  Country "  and  Pierpont's 
"Our  Fathers  "  (both  deeply  religious  and  sung 
to  the  same  convenient  tune  as  "  America"),  per- 
haps  nearly  in  the  order  here  given.  If  Drake's 
grand  "  American  Flag  "  had  been  cast  in  a  met- 
rical form  suitable  for  popular  musical  setting,  it 
might  be  to-day  one  of  our  best  National  Hymns, 
and  easily  take  its  place  as  third  on  the  list,  if  not 
higher  up.  Like  some  other  superb  lyrics  of 
Liberty  and  Union,  its  words  must  remain  its 
own  and  only  music.  When  the  question  arises 
of  selecting  the  next  seven,  or  even  one  or  two, 
worthy,  with  their  music,  of  Uncle  Sam's  Hymn- 
Book,  the  trouble  begins.  But  it  is  much  les- 
sened by  an  exacting  observance  of  the  only  rule 
that  should  govern  the  selections.  They  must' 
be  national,  not  sectional,  good  for  all  time,  in 
peace  as  in  war,  not  temporary  and  fitted  only 
to  special  crises  that  have  been  outlived.  Uncle 
Sam's  Hymn-Book  must  be  adapted  to  circu- 
late not  only  in  New  England  and  the  Northern 


SONGS   TRULY   NATIONAL. 


47 


States,  but  all  through  that  great  cluster  of  com- 
monwealths now  fast  returning  to  the  fold  of 
a  sincere,  hearty,  union-loving  sisterhood.  Sec- 
tionalism and  sectional  issues  should  not  be 
sung,  as  they  should  not  be  preached,  any 
lono-er.  This  sensible  ruling  throws  out  of 
court  most  of  the  Battle  Hymns,  some  of  high 
merit,  written  during  the  Civil  War  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  firing  the  hearts  of  armies  in 

the  field. 

It  is  not  always,  or  usually,  the  greatest  poets 
who  write  the  songs  that  become  "  National." 
Sometimes  the  writers  are  deficient  in  Patriotism, 
looking  upon  it  as  a  tawdry  sentiment  unworthy 
of  their  muse.  Sometimes  their  sympathies  are, 
by  stress  of  circumstance,  tied  down  to  localities, 
and  they  give  to  a  province  what  was  meant 
for  a  Nation.  Often,  they  become  allied  with  a 
great  party  movement  or  a  burning  question  of 
social  reform  or  philanthropy,  and,  as  its  ap- 
pointed bards,  have  no  time  or  inclination  to 
chant  anything  else.  In  the  United  States  the 
poets  of  the  first  rank  have,  like  too  many  of 
their  compatriots,  travelled  far  more  in  Europe 
than  at  home.  They  have  not  realized,  by  seeing, 
the  greatness  of  their  heritage,  or  been  made  to 


48 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


feel  the  essential  oneness  of  the  Union  and  the 
kinship  of  all  its  inhabitants  despite  the  differ- 
ences of  climate  and  conditions.  What  splendid 
National  Songs,  of  the  real  lasting  quality,  might 
have  been  written  thirty  odd  years  ago,  if  we 
had  been  engaged  in  a  foreign  war,  instead  of  a 
fratricidal  conflict!  For  one  reason  or  another, 
the  twelve  good  men  and  true  who  have  been 
set  to  choosing  the  contents  of  Uncle  Sam's 
Hymn-Book  would  not  find  much  suitable  mat- 
ter in  the  works  of  some  of  the  poets  we  most 
love  and  honor.  The  people  have  been  there 
before  the  jury,  and,  if  they  have  discovered 
nothino-  serviceable  for  a  national  song,  perhaps 
it  is  too  late  now  to  find  one.  But  let  us  be 
hopeful,  and  see  what  may  be  done. 

There  is  Bryant  with  two  spirited  lyrics, 
National  all  over,  —  "  The  Battle  Field,"  and  "  O 
Mother  of  a  Mighty  Race."  Holmes  put  the 
right  stuff  into  his  "  Old  Ironsides,"  and,  if  that 
has  not  been  wedded  to  music,  the  espousal 
should  be  no  longer  delayed.  Longfellow,  prodi- 
gal in  so  much  else,  gave  to  his  admiring  coun- 
try but  a  poor  dole  of  undiluted  Patriotism; 
and  the  hand  that  wrote  ''  Paul  Revere's  Ride  " 
and   those  sublime  too  brief  lines,  "  Thou,  too, 


LONGFELLOW,   LOWELL,  AND  WHITTIER.     49 

sail   on,  O    Ship   of   State,"  could   have   struck 

every  chord  in  the  National  lyre !     Lowell,  too, 

who  could   have   done  so  much,  did  little  that 

would  truly  fit  into    Uncle   Sam's    Hymn-Book. 

His  three  Memorial  Odes  —  '*The  Washington 

Elm,"  the  "  Concord  Bridge,"  and  ''  The  Harvard 

Commemoration"  —  are  lambent  in  passages  with 

the  purest  and  loftiest  patriotism.     If  the  meter 

were    not   irregular  — of   a  sort   that   might   be 

called    broken-candy,    in    its    lines    of    unequal 

length   and  all  sweet  — parts  of   these  majestic 

odes   could   be   popularized    with    music.     They 

might  be  arranged  in  the  cantata  form.     T  is  a 

pity  that  people  cannot  try  their  voices  on  those 

most   exultant   but   tear-compelling   lines  which 

wind  up  the  glorious  "  Commemoration  Ode,"  — 

"  Bow   down,  dear    Land,   for   thou    hast   found 

release."     In  Whittier's  poetry,  the  pickings  are 

even  scantier.     He  always  looked  into  his  great 

heart  and  wrote.     But  he  did  not  see  there  the 

Union  and  the  Flag.     He  saw  only  the  slave.     A 

man  who  dedicated  his  life,  as  this  best  of  Quakers 

did,  to  the  release  of  bondsmen  from  their  bonds, 

and   of    the   oppressed   from    their   tyrants,    and 

whose  fiery  zeal  in  the  cause  of  human  liberty, 

temporal   and   spiritual,  made   the  whole  world 


48 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


feel  the  essential  oneness  of  the  Union  and  the 
kinship  of  all  its  inhabitants  despite  the  differ- 
ences of  climate  and  conditions.  What  splendid 
National  Songs,  of  the  real  lasting  quality,  might 
have  been  written  thirty  odd  years  ago,  if  we 
had  been  engaged  in  a  foreign  war,  instead  of  a 
fratricidal  conflict !  For  one  reason  or  another, 
the  twelve  good  men  and  true  who  have  been 
set  to  choosing  the  contents  of  Uncle  Sams 
Hymn-Book  would  not  find  much  suitable  mat- 
ter in  the  works  of  some  of  the  poets  we  most 
love  and  honor.  The  people  have  been  there 
before  the  jury,  and,  if  they  have  discovered 
nothino-  serviceable  for  a  national  song,  perhaps 
it  is  too  late  now  to  find  one.  But  let  us  be 
hopeful,  and  see  what  may  be  done. 

There  is  Bryant  with  two  spirited  lyrics, 
National  all  over,  —  "  The  Battle  Field,"  and  "  O 
Mother  of  a  Mighty  Race."  Holmes  put  the 
right  stuff  into  his  "  Old  Ironsides,"  and,  if  that 
has  not  been  wedded  to  music,  the  espousal 
should  be  no  longer  delayed.  Longfellow,  prodi- 
gal in  so  much  else,  gave  to  his  admiring  coun- 
try but  a  poor  dole  of  undiluted  Patriotism; 
and  the  hand  that  wrote  '*  Paul  Revere's  Ride  " 
and   those  sublime  too  brief  lines,  "  Thou,  too. 


LONGFELLOW,   LOWELL,  AND  WHITTIER.     49 

sail   on,  O    Ship   of   State,"  could   have   struck 

every  chord  in  the  National  lyre !     Lowell,  too, 

who  could   have   done  so  much,  did  little  that 

would  truly  fit  into   Uncle  Sam's    Hymn-Book. 

His  three  Memorial  Odes  —  "The  Washington 

Elm,"  the  "Concord  Bridge,"  and  "  The  Harvard 

Commemoration"  —  are  lambent  in  passages  with 

the  purest  and  loftiest  patriotism.     If  the  meter 

were    not   irregular  — of   a  sort   that    might   be 

called    broken-candy,    in    its    lines    of    unequal 

length   and  all  sweet  — parts  of   these   majestic 

odes   could   be   popularized    with   music.     They 

miofht  be  arran2:ed  in  the  cantata  form.     T  is  a 

pity  that  people  cannot  try  their  voices  on  those 

most   exultant   but   tear-compelling   lines  which 

wind  up  the  glorious  "  Commemoration  Ode,"  — 

"  Bow   down,  dear    Land,   for   thou    hast   found 

release."     In  Whittier's  poetry,  the  pickings  are 

even  scantier.     He  always  looked  into  his  great 

heart  and  wrote.     But  he  did  not  see  there  the 

Union  and  the  Flag.     He  saw  only  the  slave.     A 

man  who  dedicated  his  life,  as  this  best  of  Quakers 

did,  to  the  release  of  bondsmen  fi-om  their  bonds, 

and   of   the   oppressed   from    their   tyrants,   and 

whose  fiery  zeal  in  the  cause  of  human  liberty, 

temporal   and   spiritual,  made   the  whole  world 


50 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


his  country,  was  not  of  the  kind  that  dashes  off 
Hail  Columbias  or  Star  Spangled  Banners  at 
a  sitting.  One  would  hardly  look  to  the  intro- 
spective and  philosophic  Emerson  for  a  National 
Song.  But  he  wrote  one  that  has  the  true  ring, 
"  The  Fight  at  Concord  Bridge."  And  it  is 
well  mated  by  his  "  Fourth  of  July  "  hymn  begin- 
ning,  — 

"  O  tenderly  the  haughty  day 
Fills  his  blue  urn  with  fire." 

When  Percival  has  contributed  his  passionate 
stanzas  headed  "  It  is  great  for  our  Country  to 
die,"  and  Sprague  his  lines  "  To  the  Sages  who 
spoke,  to  the  Heroes  who  bled,"  there  is  little 
more  worth  accepting  from  the  elder  —  or,  for 
that  matter,  from  the  younger  —  poets  of  America. 
And  the  bulk  of  it  all  is  adapted  rather  to  reci- 
tation than  to  song.  It  will  live  long,  but  not  in 
the  Nation's  Hymnal. 

Meanwhile,  fortunately,  it  is  not  needful  to  put 
many  songs  into  the  hearts  and  mouths  of  the 
whole  people.  If  the  three  or  four  best,  set  to 
music  for  four  voices,  can  be  universally  dis- 
tributed, so  that  the  whole  congregation  can  rise 
and  join  in  them  when  called  upon,  Patriotism 
will  have  received,  on  the  musical  side,  its  sufifi- 


COUNTING  THE   COST. 


51 


cient  stimulus  and  safeguard.  Then  it  will  be 
possible  everywhere,  as  it  is  now  possible  no- 
where, to  ask  banqueters  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  to 
sing  not  merely  one,  but  two,  yea  three,  stanzas 
of  "  The  Star  Spangled  Banner  "  to  the  orchestral 
accompaniment,  and  secure  a  hearty  response. 
Then,  on  Atlantic  steamships  when  the  "Fourth" 
comes  round,  the  performance  of  "  Hail  Colum- 
bia "  will  not  be  confined  to  a  few  daring  volun- 
teers, forming  their  little  protective  semicircle 
round  a  timid  pianist  whom  they  try  to  follow 
with  the  words  of  one  stanza  in  his  blind  feeling 
after  the  tune,  but  every  verse  will  be  roared  out 
confidently  and  truly  by  the  throng  of  Americans 
in  the  first  cabin.  Uncle  Sam  may  have  no  mer- 
chant fleet  to  speak  of  on  the  ocean  at  present, 
but  he  can  at  least  make  the  ship  routes  vocal 
with  his  hymns  once  a  year! 


"  AND,  PRAY,  WHAT   WOULD    IT    ALL    COST  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bad  idea,"  the  Rigid  Economist  is  good 
enough  to  say.  Then,  producing  his  inevitable 
pencil  and  paper,  he  asks,  "  What  will  it  cost  ?  " 
Little  good  would  be  done  in  this  world  if  the 
cost  were  always  counted  in  advance.     It  is  like 


52 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


ice  chilling  the  warm  blood  of  generous  hearts. 
Were  cost  in  money,  in  comfort,  in  life,  penu- 
riously  calculated,  there  would  be  scant  prog- 
ress, social,  moral,  or  religious.  The  man  who 
always  weighs  ideas  against  sordid  dollars  rarely 
parts  with  the  dollars.  But  the  Rigid  Economist 
must  be  reckoned  with  politely  on  this  occasion, 
as  on  all  others  where  appropriations  are  required 
from  Congress.  For  Congress  is  the  theatre 
where  he  can  always  play  his  part  to  a  gallery 
of  the  penny-wise  and  pound-foolish,  and  be  sure 
of  their  applause. 

In  estimating  the  expense  of  carrying  out  such 
a  scheme,  everything  turns  on  the  questions  of 
how  and  what,  and  whether  the  work  shall  be 
done  quickly  or  gradually.  Let  it  be  regarded 
as  an  experiment,  and  tried  slowly  by  moderate 
annual  appropriations  if  that  seems  best.  If  it 
does  not  stand  the  trial  and  vindicate  its  utility 
in  public  opinion,  no  harm  will  have  been  done, 
beyond  the  wasting  of  a  little  money  by  way  of 
the  spigot,  —  and  that  will  hardly  be  missed  while 
a  steady  stream  is  incessantly  pouring  from  the 

f 

bunghole. 

It  is  always  well  to  be  able  to  show  how  one 
good  thing  may  be  paid  for  by  money  saved  from 


PUBLIC   DOCUMENT   FOOLISHNESS. 


53 


doing  a  bad  thing.  According  to  the  testimony 
of  friends  and  foes  alike,  the  present  Public  Doc- 
ument system  at  Washington  is  decidedly  a  bad 
thing,  and  the  only  dispute  is  as  to  the  precise 
degree  of  its  badness.  In  making  a  conference 
report  on  the  bill  to  regulate  the  printing  and 
distribution  of  public  documents,  Mr.  Richardson 
of  Tennessee  said  the  proposed  reduction  would 
save  from  ^500,000  to  $750,000  annually.  He 
remarked  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  volumes 
already  printed  are  now  rotting  in  the  vaults. 
Mr.  Holman  antagonized  the  report,  because  it 
did  not  go  far  enough.  He  declared  that  the 
compromise  bill  would  still  provide  for  the  print- 
ing of  books  ninety  per  cent  of  which  are  un- 
worthy a  place  in  any  gentleman's  library, — 
which  is  the  neat  way  of  saying  that  they  are 
trash. 

Now,  the  volumes  that  are  not  left  to  rot  in 
the  vaults  are  saved  from  that  fate  for  presenta- 
tion to  the  favored  few.  They  are,  for  the  most 
part,  bulky,  hideous  to  the  eye,  repellent  with 
figures,  and  of  ofificial  dryness.  No  wonder  that 
they  find  their  way  at  last  to  paper  mills  instead 
of  dozily  encumbering  shelves.  But  the  tracts 
that  Uncle  Sam's  Church  would  scatter  by  the 


f 


54 


UNCLE   SAM'S  CHURCH. 


I 


million,  free,  would  reach  the  million.  In  their 
individual  length  they  would  stop  far  short  of 
boredom.  The  closely  packed  contents  of  their 
few  pages,  replete  with  interest  and  instruction, 
would   insure   their   being   read,   preserved,  and 

prized. 

Assuming  then,  that  a  sum  equivalent,  say,  to 
part  only  of  what  ought  to  be  saved  from  the 
Public  Document  foolishness,  were  available  for 
the  purpose,  let  us  see  how  far  it  could  be  made 
to  go.  And,  first,  consider  the  item  of  the  tracts, 
which   call   for    a   far   greater   outlay   than    the 

placards. 

The  estimated  population  of  the  United  States 
in  1892  was  65,593,000.  It  is  ardently  to  be 
hoped  that  somehow,  and  in  the  course  of  time, 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  Union  may 
be  made  to  understand  and  appreciate  the  origin 
and  unique  excellence  of  our  institutions,  and  to 
love  and  cherish  the  memory  of  the  founders 
and  preservers  of  the  Republic.  But,  for  the 
present  and  for  the  immediate  future,  it  suffices 
to  provide  a  small  instalment  of  the  much  needed 
enlightenment  to  voters  only.  These,  as  it  ap- 
pears from  the  returns  of  the  last  Presidential 
election,  numbered  12,034,858  in   1892.     As  the 


PATRIOTISM   WILL   FIND   THE   V^AY. 


55 


adult  male  citizens  including  the  heads  of  fami- 
lies having  spheres  of  influence  in  all  the  house- 
holds of  the  land,  they  are  the  men  who  should 
first  be  reached  in  any  well-considered  effort  to 
educate  and  confirm  the  people  in  Patriotism. 
The  voting  roll  of  the  United  States  is  rapidly 
lengthening  from  year  to  year ;  and  the  records 
of  1892  are  insufficient  for  1896.  But,  as  it  is 
necessary  to  fix  upon  some  number  in  a  provis- 
ional estimate,  no  better  datum  offers  than  that 
of  the  known  voting  population.  "  But  great 
numbers  of  the  voters  cannot  read,"  says  some 
born  objector.  But  they  can  have  their  tracts 
read  to  them.  Every  voter,  however  illiterate, 
feels  pride  in  the  possession  of  a  vote.  Arouse 
his  patriotism  and  his  curiosity  by  presenting 
him  with  serial  issues  of  Uncle  Sam  s  Bible,  and 
his  human  nature  may  be  trusted  to  make  some 
acquaintance  with  them  through  the  kindness  of 
his  lettered  neighbors  and  friends.  Patriotism, 
like  Love,  will  find  the  way. 

Take,  then,  in  round  numbers,  for  convenience, 
12,000,000  as  the  figures  to  go  upon,  and  I  am 
not  afraid  to  face  the  Rigid  Economist.  The 
printed  text  of  the  tracts  should  be  4  in.  by  6  in., 
which   experience   proves    to   be   the   size    most 


56 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


suitable.     Tracts  of  four  pages  each,  — and  these 
would  be  large  enough  for  some  of  the  proposed 
publications,  —  well  pfinted  on  fairly  good  paper, 
would  cost  at  the  Government  Printing  House,  on 
a  conservative  calculation,  not  more  than  $2.50 
a   thousand.     Private    establishments   would    be 
glad  to  make  contracts  for  the  supply  at  that  rate. 
The  cost  of  a  million  would  be  only  $2,500,  and  of 
twelve  million  $30,000.     The  extremely  low  price 
of  paper  and  the  marvellous  perfection  and  rapid 
working  of  the  modern  printing  press  alone  ren- 
der such  cheapness  possible.     Let  me  pursue  the 
problem  without  the  least  fear  of  being  devoured 
by   a   Frankenstein    of    figures.     Arithmetic    is 
implacable,  but  it  has  no  revenges  to  wreak  in 
this  case.     Among  the   four-page  variety  could 
be  comprised  such  matters  as  Abstracts  of  Cen- 
sus Reports,  and  National  Hymns  (two  to  a  tract, 
words  and  music).     Washington's  Farewell  Ad- 
dress would  take  eight  pages,  costing  $60,000  for 
twelve  million.     To  do  anything  approaching  jus- 
tice to  the  life  and  character  of  Washington,  or 
Adams,  or   Jefferson,   or   Madison,  or    Monroe, 
would  require,  say,  twelve  pages.     The  same  is 
true  of  any  intelligible  abridged  account  of  the 
war  of  the  Revolution,  or  of  181 2,  or  with  Mexico. 


DON'T   GRUDGE   THE   MONEY! 


57 


Tracts  of  this  magnitude  would  each  cost  $90,000 
for  twelve  million.  Serviceable  maps,  2  ft.  by  3  ft., 
large  enough  to  show  off  every  part  of  the 
United  States  to  advantage,  w^ould  come  much 
higher.  Made  of  good  paper,  well  fitted  for  the 
wear  and  tear  of  usage,  they  could  not  be  pro- 
duced at  less  than  $15  a  thousand,  and  that 
means  $180,000  for  the  twelve  million.  But 
that  large  sum  should  not  be  grudged  if  it 
conduces  to  the  incitement  and  perpetuity  of 
Patriotism. 

Contrasted  with  these  somewhat  imposing  es- 
timates, the  cost  of  large  handsome  placards  of 
the  two  varieties,  one  bearing  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  and  the  other  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  —  together  proclaiming 
Uncle  Sam's  unmutilated  Creed  to  all  beholders, 
—  attached  to  the  walls  of  69,000  Post  Offices, 
would  be  insignificant.  A  size  of  2  ft.  by  3  ft.  for 
each  of  these  documents  would  probably  be  large 
enough.  Printed  in  black  on  good  paper,  with 
strong  cloth  backs,  mounted  with  wood  top  and 
bottom,  they  would  hang  straight  and  not  be 
bad  looking.  Private  contractors  would  cheer- 
fully take  the  job  of  furnishing  them  at  $60  per 
thousand.     For  less    than   $10,000,  every    Post 


58 


UNCLE  SAM'S   CHURCH. 


Office  in  the  Union  could  be  supplied  with  them. 
The  maps  previously  described  could  also  be  pro- 
duced in  the  same  style  at  the  same  rate,  and  it 
would  be  a  good  idea  to  hang  them  also  in  the 
Post  Offices,  besides  supplying  them  on  the  great 
scale  already  mentioned  for  the  home  and  per- 
sonal use  of  every  voter.  This  would  bring  up 
the  entire  sum  needed  for  the  patriotic  equip- 
ment of  the  Post  Offices  to  a  point  not  exceeding 
$15,000;  and  if  it  should  cost  three,  four,  or  five 
times  as  much  to  provide  larger,  handsomer, 
more  durable  forms  of  the  same  things.  Uncle 
Sam  could  still  afford  them. 

Having  emerged,  unscathed  I  trust,  from  this 
little  arithmetical  jungle,  let  me  pause  a  moment 
for  a  calm  retrospect.  A  good  many  subjects 
have  been  already  suggested  as  supremely  impor- 
tant for  treatment  in  various  ways.  Other  sub- 
jects will  occur  to  other  men.  The  field  to  be 
covered  is  practically  boundless.  All  that  could 
be  reasonably  asked  is  to  make  a  beginning. 

With  every  deference  to  the  views  of  others,  I 
beg  to  set  down  the  following  (recapitulatory  in 
part)  as  offering  the  most  attractive  examples  of 
what  might  be  prudently  undertaken  within  a 
single  year.     The  estimates,  be  it  borne  in  mind. 


FOOTING  THE  FIGURES.  59 

are  always  for  twelve  million  of  voters,  excepting 
the  placards  and  maps  for  Post  Offices  :  — 

Sketch  of  Washington's  Life ^^9 0,000 

Washington's  Farewell  Address 60,000 

Outline  of  the  Revolutionary  War 90,000 

Songs  ("America  "  and  "  Star  Spangled  Banner  ")  30,000 

Abstract  of  Census  (No.  I.) 30,000 

Official  Maps  of  the  United  States      ....  180,000 

Placards  and  Maps  for  Post  Offices    ....  15,000 

Total ^495,000 

The  items  of  salaries  for  new  men  necessary 
to  perform  the  work,  and  of  other  contingent 
expenses,  cannot  here  be  estimated.  All  would 
depend  on  the  amount  of  the  output.  If  the 
scheme  I  have  roughly  delineated  were  actually 
executed  within  a  single  year,  at  an  expense  for 
extra  clerical  labor,  etc.,  as  high  as  $100,000,  the 
total  cost  would  still  be  only  $595,000.^  But  the 
highest  Congressional  authority  assures  the  peo- 
ple, that  between  $500,000  and  $750,000  could 
annually  be  saved  to  the  treasury  by  curtailing 
the  Public  Document  extravagance.  The  mean 
of  these  official  figures  is  $625,000,  or  $30,000 
more  than  my  plan  calls  for.  Q.  e.  d. 

It  takes  a  clock  about  twelve  days  of  twenty- 
four  hours  each  to  tick  off  one  million.     To  print, 

1  If  the  Declaration  (8  pages)  and  the  Constitution  (12  pages)  were 
added  as  tracts,  the  total  cost  would  be  $745,000. 


6o 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


handle,  and  distribute  over  the  enormous  area  of 
the  Union  seventy-two  millions  of  separate  par- 
cels in  one  year,  may  seem  to  many  persons  a 
task  of  almost  insuperable  difficulty.  They  are 
not  aware  of  the  giddy  height  of  figures  into 
which  Uncle  Sam's  habitual  operations  mount, 
and  move  there  with  perfect  ease.  The  sale  of 
postage  stamps  of  all  kinds  attains  an  average 
of  twelve  millions  a  day !  This  gives  some  idea 
of  the  number  of  letters  and  papers  daily  started 
to  their  destinations.  The  tremendous  move- 
ment is  so  quiet  that,  save  for  the  occasional 
appearance  of  a  mail  cart  on  the  street,  one 
would  not  suspect  its  existence.  The  pension 
list  of  1894  called  for  a  disbursement  of  about 
$140,000,000  among  one  million  persons.  Last 
year  the  Internal  Revenue  collections  amounted 
to  $147,000,000  (coming  in  very  handily  to  meet 
the  pensions).  All  of  Uncle  Sam's  business 
relates  to  millions;  but,  with  his  thorough  or- 
ganization  of  affairs,  they  give  him  no  more 
trouble  than  so  many  hundreds  or  tens.  Once 
well  organized,  a  railway  line  from  New  York 
to  San  Francisco  is  no  harder  to  manage  than 
a  horse-car  route  in  a  country  town.  The  amount 
of  work  that  my  scheme  contemplates  would  be 


«  V^AYS." 


61 


done  with  so  little  fuss,  along  tracks  of  the  pub- 
lic service  so  well  oiled,  that  there  would  be  no 
outward   and  visible   sign   of   anything  unusual 

going  on. 

If  two  out  of  every  three  tracts  failed  to  hit 
the  mark,  and  the  third  made  any  man  a  better 
patriot,  the  enterprise  would  pay  well.  The  lar- 
ger proportion  of  all  the  tracts  ever  issued  for  any 
purpose  have  miscarried,  and  still  this  method 
has  continued  the  admitted  best  (next  always  to 
the  newspapers)  for  reaching  and  influencing 
men  in  their  homes.  Let  it  be  tried  in  the  right 
spirit  for  the  upbuilding  of  Patriotism  in  the 
United  States  and  trust  the  People  for  the 
result ! 

"  WAYS." 

The  question  of  "  Means  "  being  now,  it  may 
be  assumed,  satisfactorily  disposed  of,  that  of 
"  Ways  "  comes  up  on  the  motion  of  the  Scrupu- 
lous Stickler.  This  person  and  the  Rigid  Econ- 
omist are  Siamese  twins,  inseparably  coupled  in 
their  chronic  objection  to  every  new  idea.  If  the 
Scrupulous  Stickler  and  his  brother  had  had 
their  way  in  1861,  the  Southern  Confederacy 
would   have   become  an  accomplished   fact,  and 


62 


UNCLE  SAM'S   CHURCH. 


I 


I 


this  mighty  Republic  the  most  mournful  failure, 
instead  of  remaining  the  brightest  illustration  of 
Popular  Government  in  all  history.  His  stock  in 
trade  is,  for  the  most  part,  Precedents.  Though 
he  invariably  opposes  the  making  of  Precedents, 
his  attachment  to  them  is  quite  slavish  when 
they  stand  in  a  good  long  line  behind  him. 
Now,  Uncle  Sam's  Church  is  in  luck  for  prece- 
dents. There  are  —  to  mention  only  the  lead- 
ing ones  —  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  the 
Bureau  of  Education,  the  Department  of  Labor, 
the  Board  of  Health,  and  the  Weather  Bureau. 
Congress  found  no  explicit  power  in  the  Con- 
stitution to  provide  for  any  of  these  good  things. 
The  authority  for  their  creation  is  conferred  only 
in  that  broad  and  flexible  phrase,  "  general  wel- 
fare," the  fortunate  existence  of  which  has 
smoothed  the  way  of  our  law-makers  out  of  many 
a  dilemma.  For  when  some  new  thing,  which 
is  not  under  the  Constitutional  ban  or  reserved 
to  the  States,  requires  to  be  done  for  the  sup- 
posed good  of  the  whole  country,  the  authority 
for  doing  it  lies  ready  at  hand  in  Article  I. 
Section  8.  It  was  this  happily  conceived  term, 
''  general  welfare,"  that  the  illustrious  Jay,  first 
Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,   in  the  case 


GENERAL  WELFARE. 


63 


of  Chisholm  v.  The  State  of  Georgia,  declared 
to  be  "  admirably  suited  to  express  a  great  and 
beneficial  design,  and  comprising  everything  that 
is  requisite,  with  the  blessing  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, to  make  the  people  by  whom  it  was 
adopted  prosperous  and  happy."  To  spread  and 
deepen  Patriotism  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  all 
the  people  is  to  cater  to  the  "  general  welfare  "  as 
effectually  as  in  any  other  way  hitherto  tried.  If 
Agriculture,  Education,  Labor,  the  Public  Health, 
and  a  knowledge  of  the  weather,  are  proper  sub- 
jects for  Uncle  Sam's  affectionate  solicitude,  why 
not    Patriotism,  which   is    the  life-blood   of  the 

Nation.? 

The  only  pretence  of  sanction  for  the  Public 
Document  business,  on  its  present  large  and 
wasteful   scale,  is  to  be  found   under   the   same 

head. 

This  great  work  calls  for  but  little  new  machin- 
ery. There  need  be  no  Secretary  of  Patriotism 
with  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet.  Put  some  more  desks 
in  the  Post  Office  Department  for  a  new  Com- 
missioner or  Superintendent,  with  a  special  staff 
of  clerks,  and  there  you  have  it.  Call  this  branch 
of  the  Postal  Service  the  "  Bureau  for  the  Culture 
and  Diffusion  of  Patriotism."     The  responsible 


64 


UNCLE   SAM'S    CHURCH. 


head  should  be  a  well  educated  American,  thor- 
oughly versed  in  the  patriotic  literature  of  his 
country,  experienced  in  selecting  and  editing 
matter  for  the  press,  and  as  free  as  possible 
from  sectional  and  political  bias.  In  this  world 
it  is  hard  to  find  anybody  who  can  do  anything 
perfectly  well.  The  best  available  man  for  the 
position  would  fall  short  of  the  ideal.  But  if  he 
were  in  entire  sympathy  with  the  undertaking, 
and  meant  well,  his  mistakes  would  be  few,  and 
far  outweighed  by  the  value  of  his  labors  as 
a  whole.  If  Congress  were  unwilling  to  trust 
the  business  to  any  one  man,  let  its  collective 
wisdom  designate,  from  year  to  year,  along  with 
the  appropriation,  the  specific  work  to  be  per- 
formed. Whoever  gives  the  orders  and  whatever 
the  incidental  blunders  may  be,  the  Americans' 
knowledge  and  love  of  their  country  will  be  in- 
creased, and  the  fires  of  Patriotism  will  be  fed. 

In  the  69,000  Post  Offices  there  will  be  69,000 
persons  whose  duty  it  will  be  to  see  that  the  cen- 
tral orders  are  executed.  They  will  nail  Uncle 
Sam's  Creed  to  the  walls  of  his  Church.  They 
will  distribute  the  successive  parts  of  his  Bible  to 
the  voters  when  called  for,^  giving  public  notice  of 
the  time  of  their  delivery.     And  the  grand  army 

1  Or  by  carriers. 


RELIGION   AND    PATRIOTISM. 


65 


of  colporteurs,  acting  in  every  part  of  the  Union 
where  the  mail-bag  goes,  will  not  add  a  single 
dollar  to  the  yearly  budget  by  reason  of  their 
services. 


RELIGION    AND    PATRIOTISM. 

All  the  other  churches  in  the  land,  inconceiv- 
ably co-operating  to  strengthen  Patriotism,  could 
not  do  the  work  like  Uncle  Sam's  Church.  For 
there  are  countless  numbers  who  do  not  go  to 
any  house  of  worship,  but  who  do  go  to  the 
Post  Office.  It  is  truly  said  that  good  churches 
make  good  citizens.  "  The  powers  that  be  are 
ordained  of  God."  This  text  may  be  beaten  out 
into  thin  sermons  to  justify  and  sustain  equally  well 
the  autocratic  government  of  Russia,  the  imperial 
government  of  Austria,  the  monarchical  govern- 
ment of  England,  and  the  republican  government 
of  the  United  States.  The  support  rendered  to 
the  first  two  named  by  their  Ecclesiastical  Es- 
tablishments is  always  unquestioning  and  hearty. 
The  Bible,  in  allegory  and  imagery,  seems  at  first 
sight  to  lend  itself  to  the  idea  of  Kingly  rule 
on  the  earth.  God  is  the  King  of  Kings,  and 
Heaven  is  a  Kingdom  with  its  throne  and  crown. 

The  Pope  of  Rome  is  called  God's  Vicegerent, 

5 


66 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


which  IS  another  word  for  Viceroy,  on  Earth. 
His  Cardinals  are  princes  of  the  Church.  In 
England  the  Bishop  is ''  my  Lord,"  his  chair  in 
the  Cathedral  is  his  "  throne,"  and  his  residence 
is  a  "  Palace."  These  words  must  not  be  taken 
too  seriously.  But  they  do  incontestably  show 
that  the  clergy  are  not,  of  necessity,  the  best  bul- 
wark of  the  American  Republic.  "  My  kingdom 
is  not  of  this  world,"  said  Christ.  It  will  not  do 
to  depend  too  exclusively  on  His  visible  Church 
to  preserve  the  Union  of  these  States.  During 
the  Rebellion  the  Southern  pulpit,  when  it  did 
not  preach  and  pray  rebellion,  did  nothing  to  pre- 
vent the  Union  being  rent  in  twain.  It  found 
in  its  Bible  a  warrant  for  Slavery,  but  no  Patriot- 
ism. This  is  not  said  to  shame  or  blame  Southern 
ministers.  They  were  human,  and  acted  up  to 
their  liorhts.  But  the  fact  is  on  record  to  demon- 
strate  that  churches  may  sometimes  prove  a  weak 
reed  for  reliance  in  the  fiery  ordeal  of  a  great 
National  crisis.  No  !  Patriotism,  which  is  to  the 
Republic  what  religion  is  to  the  Church,  must  be 
sought  not  in  the  Bible,  where  it  is  not  specifi- 
cally enjoined  by  name  or  in  effect  as  the  duty  of 
the  citizen.  It  must  be  sought  in  the  words  and 
the  deeds  of  the  immortal  fathers  and  founders 


WHAT   TRUE   RELIGION    CAN    DO. 


67 


and  saviors  of  the  Union.  As  helpers,  the 
churches  of  all  sects  can  do  much  good  if  they 
will.  All  that  the  Christian  religion  teaches  of 
the  duty  of  man  to  man  is  tributary  to  a  healthy 
Patriotism,  and  hence  conservative  of  the  Repub- 
lic. But  for  the  exercise  of  a  powerful,  direct,  un- 
equivocal, all-pervasive,  and  continuous  Patriotism, 
we  must  resort  to  Uncle  Sam's  Church  and  its 
special  methods. 

True  Religion  can  always  make  itself  felt  in 
directing  Patriotism  to  rightful  ends.  The  two 
can  combine  in  enacting  just  and  beneficent  laws, 
and  electing  honest  and  wise  rulers.  If  Patri- 
otism ever  inclines  to  wars  of  conquest,  or  to 
wanton  trespasses  on  the  rights  of  other  nations, 
Religion  can  restrain  it.  Patriotism  furnishes  to 
Religion,  in  this  country,  a  boundless  field  for 
good.  While  the  one  preserves  the  Union,  knit- 
ting all  its  people  together  in  the  bonds  of 
brotherhood,  the  other  can  all  the  more  easily 
raise  the  whole  Nation  to  higher  levels  of  that 
Righteousness  which  exalteth  it.  Patriotism  can 
prepare  the  way  for  Religion  as  surely  as  Religion 
can  smooth  the  path  for  Patriotism. 


68 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


EDUCATION    AND    PATRIOTISM. 

Education   is  not  always  Patriotism.     A  man 
may  master  all   the  learning  of  all   the   Univer- 
sities, and,  by  the  very  superfineness  of  his  polish 
and  the  excess  of  his  attainments,  be  incapable 
of    feeling   a    patriotic    glow.     When   dear    old 
Dr.  Johnson  declared  Patriotism  to  be  ''the  last 
refuge    of    scoundrels,"   he    was    in   one    of    his 
choleric  and  cynical  moods,  if  he  was  not  entirely 
misreported.     The   greatly  cultured  man    of  to- 
day might  not  go  as  far  as  the  testy  Doctor.     But 
he  might  incline  to  regard  Patriotism  as  a  vul- 
gar  mood  unmeriting  his  lofty  patronage.     The 
leaders  of  the   Rebellion  were  the   most  highly 
educated  men  of  the  South.     And,  long  before 
their  day,  came  two  of  the  same  select  class,  but 
far  more  eminent  in   learning  and  eloquence, — 
Calhoun   and    Hayne,— with   their  advocacy  of 
State  Rights  and  of  Nullification,  and  their  men- 
aces of  Secession  at  a  time  when   nobody  was 
threatening   slavery.     Had    the    Southern    mind 
been  directed  and  kept  in  patriotic  channels  by 
its  trusted  guides  from  the  start.  Patriotism  would 
have  found  a   peaceful   solution   of   the  slavery 


THE   TREASON    OF    INDIFFERENTISM. 


69 


problem  in  the  course  of  time.     But  that,  alas  !  is 
among  the  might-have-beens. 

There  is  a  silent,  sullen  treason  to  the  Repub- 
lic, which  is  indifferentism.     That  may  and  often 
does  co-exist  with  the  higher  education.     It  may 
disappear  in  presence  of  imminent  peril,  and  the 
most   indifferent    of    men    may   become   a    real 
patriot  ready  to  die  for  his  country,  reminding 
one  of  the  sort  of  friend  who  never  lets  one  sus- 
pect his  friendship  except  in  the  extremest  hour 
of  misfortune  and  calamity.     As  the  friends  for 
every-day  wear  are  the  most  prized,  so  the  man 
who  carries  his  patriotism  on  his  sleeve  into  his 
daily  life  of  society  and  business,  and  employs 
it  in  discovering  and  preventing  dangers,  —  in- 
stead of  supinely  waiting  for  them  to  turn   up 
and  then  fighting  them,  —  is  the  most  desirable 
of  patriots.     The  education   which  makes  good 
citizens  by  instructing  them  in  their  duties  and 
responsibilities  is  the  best  breeder  of  Patriotism. 
The  public   schools,    where    the    history  of   the 
country  is  taught  and  the  Constitution  is  among 
the  text-books,  and  national  songs  are  sung,  are 
the  very  nurseries  of   Patriots.     The   Patriotism 
there  set  forth  is  not  overlaid  by  the  veneering 
too  often  given  by  the  higher  education.     If  Pub- 


^o 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


lie  Schools  make  Patriots,  it  is  no  less  true  that 
Patriots  make  Public  Schools.  It  is  better  to 
begin  with  the  Public  Schools;  but,  failing  in 
that,  let  us  begin  with  the  Patriots,  and  wait  for 
the  time  and  money  required  to  educate  the  citi- 
zen in  the  more  gradual  and  thorough  way. 
Until  the  day  of  Universal  Popular  Education 
arrives  in  this  country,  Uncle  Sam's  Church  may 
be  safely  trusted  with  the  high  responsibility  of 
the  Patriotic  cult,  which  can  be  taught  at  once 
and  everywhere.  People  ignorant  and  indocile 
in  everything  else  may  prove  teachable  pupils 
in  Patriotism. 

A   GRAND    MONOPOLY    FOR    PATRIOTISM  ! 

If  any  one  religious  denomination  could  have 
the  exclusive  use  of  69,000  Post  Offices  to  spread 
its  creed  on  the  walls  and  pass  out  its  tracts  to 
all  comers,  how  greatly  it  would  prize  the  privi- 
lege !  All  its  missionaries  and  other  proselyting 
machinery  sink  into  nothingness  compared  with 
this.  If  a  political  party  could  monopolize  the 
same  facilities  for  posting  its  platform  and  circu- 
lating the  lives  and  speeches  of  its  candidates,  it 
would  have  an  initial  advantage  of  the  greatest 


A  GRAND   MONOPOLY  FOR  PATRIOTISM!      71 

value  for  campaign  purposes.  If  any  private 
business  could  enjoy  the  same  opportunity  to 
advertise  itself,  a  colossal  fortune  would  be  its 
sure  and  quick  reward.  But  Uncle  Sam  is  pro- 
hibited from  lending  his  name  to  any  form  of 
religion.  The  jealous  rivalry  of  parties  is  a  bar 
to  the  ambition  of  any  one  of  them  to  utilize  the 
Post  Offices  and  the  Postmasters  for  its  sole  be- 
hoof. There  is  no  fear  that  any  man,  or  com- 
pany, or  trust,  however  rich  and  powerful,  will 
ever  be  allowed  to  acquire  the  exclusive  right  to 
tap  the  pockets  of  the  people  in  this  most  com- 
prehensive and  searching  way.  The  immense 
field  is  free  for  Uncle  Sam  to  occupy  by  himself 
and  for  himself  alone.  If  he  does  it  in  the  right 
way  for  the  healthy  stimulation  of  Patriotism,  the 
resulting  blessings  will  be  inestimably  precious 
for  generations  to  come. 

There  cannot  be  too  much  Patriotism.  There 
is  a  joy  in  Patriotism,  as  there  is  a  joy  in  Religion 
and  in  human  love.  It  ennobles  the  life  of  the 
poorest  and  the  richest,  the  most  ignorant  and 
the  most  learned.  It  is  the  parent  virtue  of 
courage,  decision,  fortitude,  and  patience.  It  is 
the  real  defence  of  Liberty  and  the  Republic,  of 
which  great  armies  and  fleets  are  but  the  instru- 


E<*ti!^tjiffieaaszWfe>.JaaBi!g)«!ri^SBft^^ 


72 


UNCLE   SAM'S   CHURCH. 


ments.  It  is  as  necessary  for  our  security  against 
all  internal  dissensions  as  against  all  foreign  rivals 
and  enemies.  The  pride  of  citizenship  which  it 
engenders  makes  itself  felt  at  every  point  along 
the  whole  line  of  a  freeman's  duty.  It  inspires 
him,  as  nothing  else  can,  to  nominate  and  vote 
for  the  best  men  for  public  offices,  from  Alder- 
man to  President.  It  prepares  him  to  address 
his  mind  earnestly  and  intelligently  to  each  public 
question  as  it  arises,  from  the  building  of  a  school- 
house  to  the  peaceful  acquisition  of  Canada,  or 
Mexico,  or  Cuba,  or  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

Socialism  threatens,  zvhen  it  has  gathered  strength 
enough,  to  put  the  principles  of  Free  Government  to 
a  very  severe  test.  It  may  need  all  the  Patriotism 
that  we  can  muster  to  meet  that  grave  issue  I 

The  life  of  a  Nation  is  measured  by  its  Patri- 
otism. When  its  Patriotism  dies,  the  Nation  is 
dead.  This  is  an  eternal,  immutable  law.  With 
its  Patriotism  in  full  vigor,  the  growth  of  a 
Nation  and  its  power  and  influence  throughout 
the  world  are  correspondingly  vigorous.  No 
matter  whither  Patriotism  may  lead  us.  We 
must  follow  its  indications  in  the  spirit  of  the 
Fathers,  and  leave  the  rest  to  God.  Let  us  do 
our  whole  duty  as  good   citizens,   and   trust   to 


A   NEW   RALLYING   CALL. 


73 


Him   for   a  continuance   of  blessings  upon  the 
Union  of  these  States. 

Room,  then,  among  the  rallying  calls  of  the 
New  Patriotism,  for  "  Uncle  Sam's  Church,  his 
Creed,  Bible,  and  Hymn-Book." 


THE    END. 


i- 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


0032146680 


.<.-.'y.^^-^-^!^.i!e'.i^i 


